Qian Fei stared at the beautiful girl sitting on the sofa, taking a moment to gather her thoughts.
Li Yifei had mentioned someone would be staying at their place when he visited her in Hubei, but she had been so busy lately that it had almost slipped her mind.
Over a week ago, according to Li Yifei, he had been missing her terribly, his heart hungry and body thirsty. He claimed he would starve to death if he didn’t have a satisfying meal with her soon.
Then he flew to see her, and upon arriving at her hotel, his first words were: “I’ve already cleaned up before coming. Can we start our meal right away, Jin Jin?”
Afterward, he pinned her against the wall, on the table, by the kitchen counter, on the bed – everywhere he thought she could be held – constantly “dining”.
The next morning, she was utterly exhausted. He rubbed his eyes and said with a grin, “Jin Jin, time for breakfast!”
She was so frightened she nearly lost control, gaining a deeper understanding of the phrase “as ravenous as a wolf”.
Later, after he finished his “lunch”, he finally dressed properly and sat down for a chat.
He said, “There’s something I need to discuss with you.”
Li Yifei asked Qian Fei if it would be alright for one of his childhood friends to stay at their place for a while.
Qian Fei asked, “Who? Is it Da Jun? Did his mother disown him and kick him out for playing too many video games?”
Li Yifei replied, “No, not him. That little rascal Da Jun has been busy pestering some girl online lately and hasn’t bothered me in ages.” He paused, then added, “It’s a girl.”
Qian Fei thought for a moment and asked, “It’s not one of those ‘sisters’ you’ve adopted, is it?”
Li Yifei was displeased, “Stop bringing up that sister business to embarrass me!”
Qian Fei suddenly said, “Speaking of which, I’ve been following entertainment news lately, and Jin Tian has become famous. She’s absolutely a top-tier celebrity now! With her rising to stardom, I can’t help but feel like I might have held you back from becoming famous as a ‘celebrity girlfriend’ or ‘celebrity brother’!”
Li Yifei poked her forehead forcefully, “Can you stay on topic? Can we finish one conversation before starting another? I just want to be ‘Jin Jin’s boyfriend’ and ‘Jin Jin’s brother’, okay? Can we get back to talking about my childhood friend?”
Qian Fei said, “Alright.” Then she asked, “You said this girl is your childhood friend, so she should be from Beijing too, right? How come she has nowhere to stay?”
Li Yifei explained, “Her family keeps trying to set her up with someone she doesn’t like – and of course, the guy doesn’t like her either. She got frustrated and moved out. She has her apartment, but apparently, it holds some bad memories. She says going back there makes her want to die. So she bought a new place, but it’s being renovated and isn’t ready yet. She asked if I could put her up for a while until her new place was ready. I thought since I can’t be with you right now, and I’m a bit worried about you living alone if you don’t mind, she could stay with you for a bit.”
Qian Fei frowned and said, “Hold on, that’s a lot to process. Let me think it through. You said she has an apartment, but going there makes her want to die, which implies she probably had an unpleasant relationship. Seems like she has quite a history. Then you mentioned her family keeps trying to set her up with someone she doesn’t like, and you specifically emphasized that the person doesn’t like her either. Based on that somewhat unnecessary addition, am I bold to assume this person’s name is Li Yifei?”
Li Yifei smirked at her and said teasingly, “Qian Bao Dai, I’ve noticed you have a particularly keen mind when it comes to adult relationships. It seems you’re quite interested in mature topics.” After a pause, he added, “Anyway, if you’re uncomfortable with this, just forget I mentioned it. I’ll tell her to find somewhere else to stay.”
Qian Fei also smirked and said, “Let me quiz you on a logic problem first, then I’ll tell you if I’m uncomfortable or not. The question is: do you not like this female childhood friend because she doesn’t like you, or would you not like her regardless of whether she likes you or not?”
Li Yifei answered without a moment’s hesitation, “Of course, I wouldn’t like her regardless of whether she likes me or not! She’s just not my type at all!”
Qian Fei thought that by Li Yifei’s standards of “his type”, his childhood friend probably wasn’t very attractive.
She felt relieved.
“Whether she stays or not is really up to you since you’re the landlord now!” she deflected, playing a bit of verbal tai chi.
Li Yifei rolled his eyes at her and said, “But the landlord is yours now, so he has to listen to you! You have to make the final decision!”
Qian Fei was flattered by his sweet talk.
She didn’t beat around the bush anymore, “Alright, give her the keys and let her stay at our place!”
Before concluding this topic, Li Yifei said, “Let her stay in your room.”
Qian Fei asked why.
Li Yifei said, “The only woman who can enter my room is my woman!”
Qian Fei felt so elated she could hardly recognize herself.
Qian Fei had always assumed that Li Yifei’s “I wouldn’t like her regardless of whether she likes me or not” and “She’s just not my type at all” childhood friend wasn’t very attractive, but she never expected “this dish” to have such an extraordinarily beautiful and cool face.
Looking at this beautiful face, Qian Fei’s heart skipped a beat. After a moment of surprise, she greeted the beauty on the sofa while changing her shoes.
“Hello, you must be Liao Shiyu? I’m Qian Fei!”
The beauty studied her, slowly standing up from the sofa, and said, “You look quite different from your photos. You’re much prettier in person.”
Qian Fei was taken aback again, then smiled modestly, “Not at all, I’m known for not being photogenic!”
Liao Shiyu smiled at her and said, “Li Yifei probably told you about my situation. I’m sorry to impose on you for a while!”
Qian Fei returned a friendly smile, “It’s no problem at all. I was feeling a bit lonely by myself, so it’s nice to have some company!”
Qian Fei moved her luggage to Li Yifei’s former room. Most of her items had already been moved from her original room, but after checking, she realized there were still a few things she needed to bring over.
She went to the living room to ask Liao Shiyu, “May I go to your room for a moment? I need to grab a few more things!”
Liao Shiyu, sitting on the sofa, smiled at her, “Of course, this is your home. I’m just a guest, feel free to take whatever you need.”
Qian Fei smiled back.
She felt there was something odd about talking with Liao Shiyu, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She thought perhaps their energies hadn’t yet aligned in the same space.
She went to her former room to pack her things. As she was packing, she remembered that on their 1314 day, Li Yifei had tucked a few unused contraceptives under her pillow. Her face reddened. She desperately hoped his childhood friend wouldn’t discover these.
She quickly reached under the mattress, found the small items, and hastily stuffed them into her pocket.
As she was about to leave, something caught her eye.
She turned back, her gaze falling on the pillow.
The corner of a book was peeking out from under the pillow. That corner looked oddly familiar.
She lifted the pillow and saw the photo album of her and Wang Ruohai that she hadn’t gotten around to throwing away yet.
No wonder Liao Shiyu had said she looked better than in the photos. So these were the photos she was referring to.
Qian Fei picked up the album and put the pillow back in place.
“I found it in a corner when I moved in and thought it looked interesting, so I flipped through it and left it by the pillow,” Liao Shiyu was suddenly standing at the door.
Qian Fei turned and smiled at her, “Didn’t you notice the man in these photos isn’t Li Yifei?”
Liao Shiyu shrugged, “I assumed it was your ex-boyfriend.”
Qian Fei wasn’t sure what kind of mindset led Liao Shiyu to find the album “interesting,” so she decided to be straightforward: “Li Yifei has seen this album before.”
Liao Shiyu looked at her for a moment before saying “Oh,” then added, “I think you might have misunderstood. I wasn’t interested in you keeping photos with a man other than Li Yifei. I just found the scenes of you and your ex-boyfriend in college interesting. I went abroad after high school and didn’t know what universities in China were like, so I was a bit curious!”
Qian Fei thought for a moment and said, “Well, when you have time, I can take you for a tour of our university,” she held up the album and said, “But this really should be thrown away.”
She was about to leave with her packed things when she heard Liao Shiyu’s magnetic voice ask, “It’s your memories after all, are you sure you want to throw them away?”
Qian Fei stopped, turned to look at her, and smiled, “Sometimes, getting rid of unpleasant memories can be good for both yourself and others.”
Liao Shiyu looked at her, her usually formulaic smile suddenly becoming a bit more genuine. She extended her hand to Qian Fei and said, “I like your personality. Qian Fei, I hope we can become friends!”
After tossing the album into a nearby trash bin, Qian Fei freed her hand to shake Liao Shiyu’s, “I make friends easily!”
Qian Fei had just moved her things back to Li Yifei’s room and hadn’t had time to unpack when she heard Li Yifei’s voice from the living room.
A few seconds later, he darted into the room, hooked his foot to close the door, and pulled her against the wall, starting to kiss her.
Qian Fei struggled to push him away.
Li Yifei puckered his lips, trying to reach her while saying, “Don’t run away, I’m starving. Let me have a few more bites!”
Qian Fei slapped his face and pushed him back, “Stop it! There’s someone outside!”
Li Yifei pulled her hand away, shamelessly puckering his lips and continuing to reach for her, “Just pretend she’s not there! Come on, let your brother have a few more bites. As they say, when emotions run deep, passion ignites, and when passion ignites, hunger follows! Have some sympathy for my rumbling stomach!”
Qian Fei refused to give in.
She knew this shameless man too well. Once he started, he wouldn’t be able to stop, and he would pin her down everywhere to “dine”. If it were just the two of them at home, it would be fine, but now Liao Shiyu was sitting on the sofa in the living room. If she ended up moaning uncontrollably and that girl overheard, she would never be able to face anyone again.
She resisted with all her might, and her determined attitude to protect her virtue finally annoyed Li Yifei.
Li Yifei cursed, retracted his sore and aching lips, and angrily pulled Qian Fei out of the room.
As they passed through the living room, Qian Fei saw Liao Shiyu, who was watching TV, look at her with a bewildered expression, and then glance at the photo album in the trash bin.
Qian Fei understood that she was asking: Are you okay? He didn’t find that photo album and give you trouble, did he?
Just before being dragged out the door, Qian Fei managed to give her a reassuring look.
Then Li Yifei pulled her into the elevator.
As the elevator descended, Qian Fei finally caught her breath. She asked the sulking Li Yifei, “Why do you look so grim? Where are you taking me?”
Li Yifei looked at her, narrowed his eyes, raised his eyebrows, and said in a deep voice, “Food is the primary need of the people, so of course I’m taking you out to find a place to eat!”