A week later, the old man’s surgery was successful.

The day before the surgery, Yao Jingjing, having received the news, rushed back from Dalian. The next day, she accompanied Qian Fei, keeping vigil outside the operating room.

Looking at them, Li Yifei sincerely said, “I used to think the term ‘best friends’ was almost ruined by those drama queens on BBS who act nice on the surface but scheme behind each other’s backs. But seeing you two, I’m starting to believe it’s still a good word, and that life is still full of positive energy and hope!”

Qian Fei and Yao Jingjing appreciated this sentiment but begged Li Yifei to maintain his usual flippant manner in the future. They advised him not to suddenly become so mainstream news-like, especially the last sentence, which was so high-pitched it made them both shudder.

After the successful surgery, Yao Jingjing returned to Dalian, carrying the honor of being “China’s Best Friend.”

Qian Fei took leave from work. During the day, she went to the hospital to help Aunt He take care of the old man. In the evening, after dinner, and once the old man was asleep, she would ask the caregiver to take over and have Li Yifei drive her home.

At home, if she could still manage, she would study for two hours, preparing for the sponsor representative exam at the end of November.

Every day was tiring for her, but she felt it was worth it. Seeing the old man improve day by day without post-operative deterioration, she felt like the luckiest person in the world.

During this time, Wang Ruohai came to the hospital, wanting to see the old man. Qian Fei stopped him.

The old man still gritted his teeth at the mention of Wang Ruohai, and she feared Wang Ruohai might agitate him.

Wang Ruohai was very disappointed. Before leaving, he asked Qian Fei dejectedly, “Have you been well lately?” He said, “You’ve lost a lot of weight, you need to take care of yourself!” He told her, “I’m still single.”

Qian Fei calmly replied, “I already have someone I like.”

Wang Ruohai stared at her, his expression changing rapidly – surprise, regret, disappointment, unwillingness.

Finally, faced with Qian Fei’s consistently calm expression, he left in defeat.

Li Yifei wasn’t there when Wang Ruohai came to the hospital. Later, when Li Yifei heard about his visit, he looked very displeased.

“I’ve never seen such a ridiculous person. Who does he think he is? After cheating and running away with someone else, he has the nerve to come back with love and regret? Does he think he’s some invincible true love or something?” Li Yifei’s tongue was as sharp as a laser-guided gun trigger, his tone both forceful and piercing.

Qian Fei calmly replied with one sentence.

“I’ve seen people like that before.”

Li Yifei asked, “Who?”

Qian Fei said, “Gui Lili.”

Li Yifei fell silent after that.

Later, Li Yifei asked Qian Fei, “I never got around to asking you, didn’t Wang cheat on you with a rich woman? Why did he come back to find you later? What happened to that rich woman? How useless is she that she couldn’t keep him? She’s unreliable, able to conquer but not defend, letting that loser Wang have the chance to come and show his face to his woman from time to time.”

Qian Fei said, “I heard that woman was quite spoiled and didn’t treat his mother well.”

Li Yifei wanted to say, “At least he’s still a man, knowing to be filial,” but then realized this would be giving Wang some credit, so he swallowed his words.

The next day at noon, while Qian Fei was taking care of the old man in the hospital, she received a call from the company and stepped out to answer it. When she returned, she was so shocked by the scene in the hospital room that she almost screamed out loud.

She saw Li Yifei helping the old man urinate!

She couldn’t have imagined such a scene in her entire life!

That pampered, germaphobic, princely man, who would want to peel off a layer of skin if someone’s saliva accidentally landed on his face, was now, without fear of dirt, fatigue, or smell, rolling up his sleeves and personally helping her father urinate!

Qian Fei was stunned. She briefly wondered if she was seeing a smog-induced mirage in Beijing.

As Li Yifei got up to wash his hands, Qian Fei followed behind him.

In the mirror, Li Yifei saw her expression, on the verge of tears.

He raised an eyebrow and asked, “What’s wrong? Are you going to cry? Did I mistreat the old man or something?”

Qian Fei sniffled, gave him a look, and said, “I was moved by you for a moment, is that not allowed?”

Li Yifei turned off the faucet, shook the water off his hands, raised one hand to run his fingers through his hair from front to back, squinted his eyes, bared his teeth, and asked charmingly, “Do you think I’m particularly sensible, attractive, sexy, and handsome?”

Qian Fei felt that all the sincere gratitude in her stomach could no longer be expressed.

She asked with a wooden face, “Don’t you find it dirty?”

Li Yifei answered honestly, “I do!”

Qian Fei asked, “Then why were you willing to do it?”

Li Yifei said, “Because he’s your father.”

Qian Fei sniffled again, then patted his shoulder and said, “Good boy, you’re so understanding. I won’t use Liu Qingyun’s photos to fool my dad anymore!”

After the urination incident, the old man once again entered a mode of endless praise for his “future son-in-law,” praising non-stop in a state that didn’t seem like someone who had just undergone a major life-or-death surgery.

He held Qian Fei’s hand, weak but talkative: “Daughter, remember to use face masks when you get home! Look how yellow your face has become from all this exhaustion! Little Li is so good, handsome, smart, dresses better than you, and isn’t afraid of dirt or fatigue when taking care of me. My future son-in-law is like a living Lei Feng, hard to find even with a lantern! Little Feifei, listen to your father, don’t stay here with me at night, go home and get your beauty sleep! If you can’t get rid of those dark circles, you won’t be worthy of Little Li!”

After listening to this long speech, Qian Fei only replied with one sentence to her panting father.

“Dad, do you need some oxygen first?”

Qian Fei privately asked Aunt He how she tolerated this chatty old man. Aunt He smiled and said, “That’s why I fell for your father in the first place!”

Qian Fei felt a bit moved. At a time when most people are prejudiced against stepmothers, she witnessed her stepmother’s unwavering devotion to her father.

In the evening, she was sent home early by the old man with the reason “Go back and get your beauty sleep, don’t be unworthy of Little Li.”

After dinner, she sat at her desk reviewing.

Li Yifei sat next to her, wearing headphones and playing an online game.

When she encountered a question she wasn’t sure about while doing exercises, she nudged Li Yifei’s arm for help.

Li Yifei unhesitatingly stopped his game, decisively took off his headphones, picked up the exercise book, and began explaining in detail to Qian Fei.

Qian Fei tilted her head, propping her cheek with her hand, looking at Li Yifei, listening carefully and attentively. The light shining on her cheeks emitted a quiet and gentle glow.

As Li Yifei explained under her gaze, his speech gradually slowed down, his voice changing from crisp to melodious. Finally, he stopped explaining, leaned in close, and lowered his head to kiss her.

After kissing for a while, Qian Fei pushed him away.

“Your headphones are exploding!”

Li Yifei stared into her eyes, rubbing her lips, and said hoarsely, “I thought you were going to slap me again!”

Qian Fei smiled at him, “No slapping today, it felt quite nice!”

Li Yifei also smiled, his eyes full of affection, and asked, “So, can I kiss you again tomorrow?”

Qian Fei raised an eyebrow like him and said, “We’ll see tomorrow!”

Li Yifei was about to say something when his phone suddenly rang.

He answered. On the other end, Dajun was shouting frantically as if someone had stepped on his tail, his voice so loud that even Qian Fei could hear clearly.

“Li Yifei, damn you! Can’t you take some responsibility for me?! You said you’d help me level up, but how could you just stop at the crucial moment?! I’ve been beaten back to thirty years ago by the boss, you bastard! What the hell were you doing?! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! If you don’t give me a good reason, I’ll come and chop you with a kitchen knife! Quick, tell me, what were you doing just now? Why didn’t you respond when I was calling for your help in the headphones?!”

Li Yifei calmly replied into the phone, “I was kissing my woman.”

Dajun let out a howl, crying, “Li Yifei, you’re just a scumbag who values romance over friendship! I’m never going to be friends with you again!”

In mid-October, the old man showed no abnormal symptoms and was recovering well. Qian Fei sent the old man and Aunt He back to their hometown hospital for recuperation. Li Yifei wanted to go back to their hometown with them, but Qian Fei didn’t let him. Their two companies’ joint hotel project had encountered some problems, and the Securities Regulatory Commission was coming down to investigate. Qian Fei asked him to stay and deal with the inspection.

Qian Fei hired a seemingly reliable full-time nanny from a home care company in her hometown at a high price to help Aunt He take care of the old man. Both the old man and Aunt He was a bit worried about the cost, but Qian Fei firmly told them, “Don’t worry about money. Next month I’ll be a qualified sponsor representative. After signing a project, I’ll become a sponsor representative, and I’ll earn back so much money for you in no time!”

After settling everything, she returned to Beijing, travel-worn.

The second day after returning to Beijing, she got up early and went to the company.

Shortly after arriving at the company, she was called into the big boss’s office.

The big boss dropped a bombshell on her.

The big boss tactfully informed her that due to her excessive absenteeism, the headquarters had decided to dismiss her.

When Qian Fei heard this news, she felt like the world was spinning. She had prepared so carefully for the sponsor representative exam, only to receive such news now.

She didn’t know what was wrong with her lately, bad things kept happening one after another, not giving her a moment to catch her breath.

She packed up her things that day. As she was leaving, Xiao Yuan and Sister Jin came out to see her off. She saw tears in their eyes.

She suddenly felt that these past few years hadn’t been wasted, at least she could earn some genuine tears at the moment of departure.

So she cried contentedly too.

Qian Fei didn’t tell Li Yifei about being dismissed. She carried her cardboard box and took the subway home alone.

After returning home, she lay on the bed feeling dejected, thinking about her uncertain future, and not wanting to do anything.

After a while, Li Yifei sent her a message, telling her not to leave after work in the evening, and to wait for him to pick her up so they could go home together.

She listlessly replied to Li Yifei that she was already home.

The next second, Li Yifei called her directly: “Why did you go home at noon? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

Qian Fei tried to make her voice sound as normal as possible: “I’m not feeling unwell anywhere, I was just dismissed for too much absenteeism!”

On the other end of the phone, Li Yifei was silent for two seconds, then said, “Wait for me at home!” and hung up.

Qian Fei stared blankly at the hung-up phone. She wanted to tell him to work properly, not to worry, that she was fine.

An hour later, Li Yifei rushed into the house like the wind.

He dashed into Qian Fei’s room, scooped up the lump of flesh sprawled on the bed, with a face full of excitement.

Qian Fei almost doubted if she had misread the expression on his face. She looked at him in confusion and asked, “Have your nerve endings malfunctioned? I’ve lost my job, I can’t take the sponsor representative exam anymore, but why do you look happier than if you’d won five million?”

Li Yifei shook her shoulders, gleefully saying, “Why shouldn’t I be happy? Now I can bring you to our company and openly flirt with you every day!”