In late September, the hotel held its anniversary celebration. The hotel executives sent invitations to two securities firms to join the festivities.
The revelry was divided into two parts: first, a dinner, followed by a night at a club. The first part was limited to the project team members, while the second was more casual. Each team member could bring up to three friends to the club.
With Yao Jingjing absent, Qian Fei brought Xiao Yuan and her two girlfriends to the club.
Li Yifei also attended. Zhao De, having drunk during dinner, felt tired and went home to rest.
At the club, Li Yifei was quite popular. Many heavily made-up young women approached him with drinks, trying to flirt.
Sitting on the sofa, he remained unfazed by the waves of moving “rouge pots and perfume bottles” attempting to seduce him.
He sat with his legs crossed, holding a drink, with a scantily-clad beauty on each side.
When the beauties tried to engage him in conversation, he remained silent, neither responding nor moving away. He simply held his drink, eyes half-closed, his gaze fixed on Qian Fei in the distance.
He thought with displeasure, “Why did she take off her jacket?”
Then he counted: she had looked at him three times in total. All three glances were passive, as her three girlfriends had turned her shoulders towards him, seemingly whispering something to her each time.
Focused solely on watching her, his cold attitude disappointed the two beauties beside him. Feeling ignored, they huffed and left simultaneously.
He then set down his drink and stood up from the sofa.
At the club, Xiao Yuan asked Qian Fei, “Why are you dressed like a proper housewife in a place like this? That strapless mini-dress underneath is so much more exciting! Why cover it with a jacket? It’s neither here nor there! Quick, take it off!” As she spoke, she pulled off Qian Fei’s jacket, leaving her shoulders bare.
Qian Fei protested helplessly, “What are you doing, forcing me into prostitution?”
Ignoring her comment, Xiao Yuan turned Qian Fei’s shoulders, making her look back. “Fei Fei, I think that handsome representative is looking at you.”
Qian Fei glanced over briefly, seeing Li Yifei, that pretty boy, sandwiched between two tanned women in hot pants, looking like an Oreo cookie.
She turned back, saying, “You must be mistaken. He’s got two girls next to him, why would he look at me?”
Xiao Yuan’s friend then turned Qian Fei’s shoulders to face Li Yifei, “No, Qian Fei, look, he is watching you. Trust me, my eyesight is excellent lately, with 20/20 vision. I can see things more clearly from a distance!”
Qian Fei turned back, looking at the friend sympathetically, “You poor thing, you’re already becoming farsighted!”
Just as she finished speaking, the second friend turned her shoulders towards Li Yifei again.
Qian Fei angrily turned back, asking, “What now?”
The second friend said, “I feel sorry for that handsome guy over there! He’s been looking for so long and only seen your back. I’m helping him out, letting him see your face for a change!”
Qian Fei began to regret bringing these two immature young women along.
During this time, two men came over to chat with Qian Fei, but she politely extinguished their attempts at conversation.
Xiao Yuan complained from the side, “I’m not going out with you anymore. When did you become such a man-eater? All the guys are coming to talk to you and not me!”
Qian Fei lowered her head to drink, ignoring her.
Suddenly, Xiao Yuan nudged her hard. She asked impatiently, “What is it now?”
Xiao Yuan pointed behind her, saying, “The handsome representative is coming over!”
She turned around, coming face to face with Li Yifei, his features almost devilishly handsome in the flickering lights.
Li Yifei leaned in close to Qian Fei and said concisely, “Manager Qian, can we talk for a moment?”
Qian Fei shrugged and followed him to a corner.
“Go ahead, first sentence,” she said casually, leaning against the wall in the corner.
Li Yifei looked down at her and said, “Did you see me sitting over there?”
Qian Fei nodded, “Second sentence?”
Li Yifei stared into her eyes without blinking and said, “Then couldn’t you show a little jealousy?”
Qian Fei shrugged again, “I don’t like sour things lately.”
As she was about to leave, Li Yifei grabbed her shoulders and pressed her back against the wall.
“But I was jealous of you!” After saying this, he suddenly lowered his head and kissed her lips forcefully.
Qian Fei stared in shock for several seconds, her lips already wet from his kiss, before realizing what he was doing.
She began pushing him hard, but he held her tightly, and she couldn’t budge him no matter how hard she tried.
In desperation, her hands began to flail wildly. Her right hand unexpectedly made contact, and with a crisp “slap,” her palm struck his cheek.
He finally let go of her.
Qian Fei stared blankly at Li Yifei’s face, which had just received a small slap from her hand.
Although she strongly disapproved of Li Yifei’s sudden misbehavior, this slap was truly unintentional… It was just an accidental result of her frantic movements, happening to land on his pretty face.
They stared at each other, wide-eyed.
She wasn’t sure whether to first rebuke him for his misconduct or explain the accidental slap.
While she was torn, Li Yifei spoke first.
“Two sentences,” he began again with this phrase.
“That slap felt good,” he said hoarsely, touching his face for the first sentence.
“The second sentence is a bit long,” he looked down at her, his eyes becoming extremely serious, “My mother passed away early, and my father pitied me for not having a mother, so he spoiled me since I was little, resulting in my difficult temperament. I didn’t think it was a problem before, but since it’s made you ignore me for so long, I now realize it is. But I don’t know how to fix this flaw myself, so will you help me change it? I didn’t know how to date properly before, I just knew how to act aloof, which upset you. Will you give me another chance to learn how to date without being distant?”
He finished speaking and stared intently at Qian Fei, waiting for her answer.
Qian Fei looked up at him, blinking, for quite a while. She stared so long that he began to feel uneasy before she finally spoke softly.
“Your second sentence was indeed quite long.”
Li Yifei’s breath caught in his throat.
He felt he had truly fallen for this troublemaker.
He coughed twice and persisted, “Will you?”
Qian Fei looked at him and said, “I’d like to think about it for a few days.”
Li Yifei had never been so obedient before.
When Qian Fei said she wanted to think for a few days, he waited patiently without crying, making a fuss, or pestering her. When he felt anxious, he went to Da Jun’s place to bother the immature young man.
Da Jun, annoyed by his harassment, finally burst out, “Brother, can’t you act like a man? What’s with this waiting around to be chosen attitude?”
Li Yifei ignored his words and, when Da Jun wasn’t paying attention, gave away another set of his newly bought, impressive equipment.
This time, he gave it to a female character named “Thought Half the Night for a Lousy Name.”
When “Thought Half the Night for a Lousy Name,” said thank you, Da Jun howled, rushed to the computer, pushed Li Yifei aside, and shakily typed in the chat box: “Beautiful lady, please return the equipment to me! Someone hacked my account just now! I didn’t intend to give you the equipment!”
“Thought Half the Night for a Lousy Name” promptly went offline without hesitation.
Da Jun cried, wanting to call Qian Fei and beg her to stop considering and make a decision, saying he couldn’t live like this anymore.
Two days later, when Li Yifei was feeling particularly uneasy about the wait, he unexpectedly received a call from Yao Jingjing.
Yao Jingjing’s voice had changed on the phone, “Listen, Young Master Li, how come you’ve become so silent when you shouldn’t be? Where’s that thick-skinned persistence of yours when it’s critically needed? Go help Fei Fei!”
Li Yifei hurriedly asked what was wrong with Qian Fei.
Yao Jingjing said, “Her father is ill and needs to come to Beijing for treatment. She’s selling her house right now!”
Li Yifei stood frozen, holding the phone, like a wooden chicken.
When Li Yifei rushed to Qian Fei’s home, she was refunding rent to her elder sister, who was rumored to have taken over the nest and was often away on business trips.
Qian Fei, with red eyes and a haggard face, was apologizing to her elder sister, who waved her hand casually and headed towards the elevator with two large suitcases.
Seeing Li Yifei, Qian Fei’s first words were not “Why are you here?” but rather, “You’re not very gentlemanly, are you? My sister is dragging two suitcases by herself, and you didn’t offer to help.”
Li Yifei, seeing that she could still joke, felt slightly relieved.
“From now on, my gentlemanly behavior is reserved for you alone.”
He followed her into the apartment.
He asked Qian Fei, “I heard you’re selling the house?”
Qian Fei told him, “Yes, my father is sick. His liver is having problems, from drinking.”
Li Yifei asked, “Doesn’t your father have medical insurance?”
Qian Fei said, “His work unit isn’t doing well financially, so they stopped paying for it long ago. The old man was confused and never told me about it.”
Li Yifei asked, “Where is your father now?”
Qian Fei said, “Still at home, waiting for a bed at the 301 Hospital.”
Li Yifei asked, “Has the house been sold yet?”
Qian Fei shook her head, “Not yet, it’s listed with a real estate agent.”
Li Yifei tentatively asked, “If I told you I could find a way to lend you money so you don’t have to sell the house, what would you say?”
Qian Fei shook her head, “My father also has some kidney issues. We don’t know how much these two conditions will cost to treat in the end. Relying on borrowed money isn’t feasible.”
Li Yifei asked one last question: “Why didn’t you tell me about such a big matter?”
Qian Fei looked at him and said, “Did you want me to make you think I was only reaching out to you because I was in trouble?”
Li Yifei’s heart skipped a beat.
This meant that if she were to reach out to him, it wouldn’t be because of trouble, but for something else. He silently interpreted it this way.
That meaningful “something else” really made his heart flutter.
He suddenly became very excited and, pulling Qian Fei along, said, “I just remembered that a friend of Da Jun’s has been wanting to buy a house in this area. Wait here, let me contact them for you!”
Qian Fei’s house was eventually sold to Da Jun’s friend at a good price.
On the day of the sale, Qian Fei’s eyes were brimming with tears.
She asked Da Jun’s friend if she could move out a few days later because her father was coming to Beijing for treatment in the next couple of days, and she hadn’t had time to find another place to live.
Da Jun’s friend pointed at Li Yifei and said to her, “You’ll have to ask him about that. I’ve already rented the entire place to him!”
Qian Fei was stunned and looked at Li Yifei.
Li Yifei smiled at her, eyes narrowed and corners of his mouth turned up: “The tables have turned, and now it’s my turn to be the landlord!”