Li Yifei walked to the head of the conference table, stopped, and pulled out the chair. He turned to Qian Fei and invited her, “How could I sit here? It’s more appropriate for General Manager Qian to sit here! I’m just here to listen in, and General Manager Qian should preside over the big picture!”
Qian Fei looked at Li Yifei, wishing she could strangle him in her mind.
With a polite smile that only he could tell was insincere, she said to him, “Director Li, please don’t be so modest. I dare not claim to be in charge. After all, we’re all here to support your work!”
Li Yifei insisted on standing aside, smiling gracefully, looking as handsome as a model.
Everyone around was watching them.
This time, Qian Fei wished she could strangle herself to end it all.
Finally, under the encouragement (urging) of her colleagues, she reluctantly took the head seat.
Li Yifei sat down in her previous position. He smiled and said “Long time no see, everyone’s been working hard” to his former colleagues, then greeted everyone in the meeting room. He then composed himself and said, “Actually, I used to work in investment banking, but because of my father’s poor health, I recently canceled my sponsor representative qualification to help out. To avoid unnecessary trouble, I’ll maintain an observer status on this project. I won’t take up a position in the group for now, and group affairs will still be decided in the name of Deputy General Manager Liao!”
Then he passed the floor to Qian Fei.
Qian Fei, through her further understanding of the group’s materials, dug out some key issues from a deeper perspective. She raised these issues one by one and discussed them with everyone.
However, as each problem was discussed, it eventually turned into a back-and-forth between her and Li Yifei, giving solutions.
Their exchanges were perfectly timed, with a rapport that seemed as if all thoughts were coming from the same person.
Qian Fei’s two colleagues sat aside, whispering, “Listening to these two ‘generals’ discuss problems is a treat! Every word they say is substantial!”
“Yeah, their thought processes are in sync to an insane degree!”
The group meeting thus turned into their two-person show. An hour and a half later, amid everyone’s admiration, Li Yifei smiled and thanked everyone, announcing the end of the meeting.
As Qian Fei stood up to leave, Li Yifei quickly rose to block her, smiling amiably, “General Manager Qian, if it’s convenient, could I trouble you to come to my office for a chat?”
The colleagues around them exchanged knowing glances.
Qian Fei looked at him expressionlessly, “Then please lead the way, Director Li.”
In Li Yifei’s office, Qian Fei sat cross-legged with her arms folded in the executive chair, while Li Yifei sat on the guest sofa opposite her.
Qian Fei looked down at the person on the sofa like a queen, “Speak, Director Li, what did you want to see me about?”
Li Yifei cleared his throat and said, “Actually, it’s nothing much. I just wanted to briefly explain to you the historical background of why I concealed who my father is!”
Qian Fei didn’t respond, turning her gaze to the window, intensely focused on the tall building opposite.
Li Yifei waited for a while without seeing her look back, and had to call out, “Jingin?”
Still looking out the window, Qian Fei said flatly, “Please call me General Manager Qian during work hours.”
Li Yifei hissed, “Alright! General Manager Qian? General Manager Qian, please pay attention. How about you listen to me explain the historical background?”
Qian Fei still gazed out the window, and after a long while, she grunted, “Go ahead.”
Li Yifei looked at her affected and arrogant demeanor, finally realizing how annoying he must have been before.
He took a deep breath and said, “Actually, it’s like this. My old man suddenly found out one day that I had my eye on another girl, and this girl hadn’t studied abroad. He thought my taste in women was getting worse and worse, that this one wasn’t even as good as the last one, at least the last one had studied abroad…”
Qian Fei suddenly turned her head and glared at him, interrupting, “This ‘one’ you’re talking about, it wouldn’t happen to be me, would it?”
Li Yifei tried his best to make his face look as handsome, beautiful, and charming as possible, “…Congratulations, you guessed right, it’s you!”
Qian Fei spat at him, “Pah! Is studying abroad such a big deal? Are all those who’ve studied abroad good stuff? Do you think foreigners are so great? If they came to China to take the CET-4 and CET-6, they might not even score as well as me!”
Li Yifei nodded vigorously, saying yes, yes.
“We just happen to have some stinking money at home, and figured we had nowhere else to spend it if we didn’t go abroad, that’s why we went! If we’re just talking about grades, I believe this returnee definitely can’t compare to you, a local!”
Qian Fei looked at his brazenly boasting face, listening to his shameless words, wishing she could flip the table and smash him. She irritably turned her gaze back to the window.
“Continue!” she said impatiently.
Li Yifei cleared his throat again, “The old man didn’t think you were good enough, so I argued with him. I said you were capable, definitely capable, more capable than China Mobile! Then the old man agreed with me, not to let me tell you who I am, and not to help you. If you could independently work out this restructuring plan for our family, he would admit you’re capable!”
Qian Fei snorted, turning back to look at him, “So now he doesn’t dislike me?”
Li Yifei nodded with the most beautiful, handsome, and charming smile that would make people want to take off their pants just by looking at it.
Qian Fei raised an eyebrow, not realizing she was doing Li Yifei’s signature move, “Now it’s my turn to dislike!” She stood up from the executive chair with a “thump”, walked out from behind the desk, and stood in front of Li Yifei, hands in her suit pockets.
The high heels made her trouser lines straight as a pencil, making her legs look slender, cool, and sexy.
“Young Master Li,” Qian Fei looked down at Li Yifei sitting on the sofa, “I now dislike that your English name doesn’t sound good, so bad that I don’t want to play happily with you! When I feel it sounds good, I’ll remember to let you know!”
With that, she turned and walked towards the door.
Li Yifei almost spat. He had never heard of someone disliking an English name so much they couldn’t play together! This was just making trouble out of nothing…
He hurriedly stood up from the sofa, strode in front of Qian Fei, and gripped the doorknob, not letting go. “This is easy to fix! I’ll change my English name! Jingin, I’ll change it to one you don’t dislike right away, and we can make up, okay?”
Qian Fei raised her chin, her face full of arrogance, “Call me General Manager Qian!”
Li Yifei hissed, sucking in air as he called out, “General Manager Qian, can we make up? I’ll change my English name right now!”
Qian Fei stuck out her neck, “It’s no use, whatever name you change to, I’ll dislike it!”
Li Yifei raised an eyebrow, “That can’t be! I’ve already thought of changing it to ‘How Teen’! If you just bravely say it out loud once, you’ll instantly break the spell of it not sounding good, please believe me!”
Qian Fei was stunned for a moment, then showed a fierce look, “Get lost! What word games are you playing? I’m telling you, this trick doesn’t work on me!”
She pried at Li Yifei, who struggled as his hand was being pried off the doorknob, asking, “Then tell me, what would make you think my English name sounds good?”
Qian Fei opened the door and walked out without looking back, saying as she walked, “After I do something I won’t tell you about first!”
In the evening before leaving work, Qian Fei received a call from the company’s vice president, telling her that the next day she needed to go to Gui Lili’s company for a meeting to follow up on the IPO progress.
She put down the phone and said directly to Li Yifei, who was sticking to her like glue behind her, without turning her head, “Director Li, I’d like to ask for leave. Tomorrow I have to go to your ‘studied abroad’ ex-girlfriend’s company for a meeting, so I won’t be coming here.”
Li Yifei stepped up to walk side by side with her, “Sponsor Representative Qian, what time will the meeting end tomorrow? I’ll come pick you up! I’ll drive my dad’s new Lamborghini, and you can find a razor blade or something to scratch it on the way to vent your anger!”
Qian Fei stopped and looked up, “Alright then, pick me up in this car.” After a pause, she added, “Don’t forget to bring a sharp razor blade.”
With that, she walked past him haughtily.
Li Yifei watched her swaying figure from behind, suddenly feeling that the most sigh-inducing and heart-wrenching thing in the world was the sixty years by the river – thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river.
He remembered the year when he was the one walking arrogantly in front, and it was that saintly she who kept following behind.
But now… saying more would just bring tears, it had all reversed…
The next day, Qian Fei spent the whole day in a meeting at Gui Lili’s company.
When Gui Lili learned that she had become the project manager to continue following up on their project, her facial expression looked like she had just performed swallowing light bulbs.
After the meeting, Qian Fei felt a bit tired. She shook hands with the company’s bull director – who was also Gui Lili’s husband – said goodbye, and left the conference room.
But as soon as she left the conference room, she heard Gui Lili calling coquettishly from behind, “Qian Fei, wait for me, let me see you off!”
Qian Fei wanted to pretend she didn’t hear and keep walking. She was fed up with this one’s affected behavior and didn’t want her to see her off at all.
But Gui Lili kept calling like a perpetual motion small trumpet, “Qian Fei, Qian Fei, wait for me, wait for me, let me see you off, let me see you off!”
After hearing her call like this, Qian Fei felt like she was seeing double.
She stopped, turned her head, with a programmed and slightly stiff smile, “Deputy General Manager Gui, no need to see me off, I can go down by myself!”
Gui Lili quickly pattered a few steps to catch up to her, affectionately linking her arm, “How can that be! How can we let you walk alone!”
Qian Fei looked at her arm that was tightly held by Gui Lili, her mouth twitching.
This isn’t seeing off, this is kidnapping…
Gui Lili, in a posture that looked intimate to others but felt like forceful dragging to Qian Fei, pulled her to the elevator.
When the elevator arrived, she smiled at the others, “Please wait for the next one, I want to see my friend off alone!”
The others immediately gave way to the boss’s wife.
After the elevator doors closed, Gui Lili, as if performing a face-changing act, immediately let go and put away her smile.
Qian Fei couldn’t help but silently look up at the camera on the ceiling.
She wanted to tell Gui Lili: Sister, people are watching through here too, you should act the whole way through!
Half a minute later, the elevator “dinged” and stopped on the first floor. Gui Lili walked out first with her head held high.
After walking out of the building entrance, Gui Lili stood still, turned around, folded her arms across her chest, and looked at Qian Fei with a questioning face, “I heard from your colleagues that you’re with Li Yifei now?”
Qian Fei snorted, “Whether I’m with him or not, do I need to report to you?” She turned her head and saw a shiny new Lamborghini parked not far away, then turned back to Gui Lili and said, “If your so-called ‘seeing me off’ was just to tell me this, I’m sorry, I have no obligation to entertain you. I have to go now.” She turned and walked towards that flashy big car.
Gui Lili was stunned behind her. She couldn’t quite adjust. The cold and hard-working Qian Fei in front of her couldn’t overlap with the easily bullied good person in her memory…
Seeing that Qian Fei was about to walk away, Gui Lili came to her senses and called out behind her, speaking without thinking, “Qian Fei, you’re so hypocritical! I’ve said before, that you like Li Yifei, but you kept denying it!”
Qian Fei stopped in her tracks. She sighed. She originally didn’t want to bother with this brain-dead + princess syndrome coquettish middle-aged woman. She had wanted to be like before, letting her say whatever she wanted, enduring it for a while and it would pass. But today was strange, she suddenly didn’t want to endure anymore.
She turned and walked back to Gui Lili, chin raised, smiling, and said, “Yes, I do like him, I like him very much. So what? How does it concern you?”
Gui Lili’s lips trembled, and she stuck out her neck, saying, “I just feel that when Li Yifei and I broke up back then, something was wrong! We were always arguing at that time, maybe you were causing trouble behind our backs! If it wasn’t for you, I might not have ended up with someone else!”
Qian Fei couldn’t help but burst out laughing. She called out behind Gui Lili, “Director Niu!”
She saw Gui Lili’s face instantly turn as white as a ghost, terrifiedly turning her head to look.
When she saw there was nothing behind her and realized she had been tricked by Qian Fei, Gui Lili turned back furiously and shouted, “Qian Fei, you’re so despicable!”
Qian Fei laughed, “Mrs. Niu, why bother! With such poor conduct, you’re still always thinking about playing the ‘old love never dies’ drama. Aren’t you just making yourself miserable? If you ask me, you’ve been married for two years now, quickly focus on having a child. Otherwise, this thing called the position of the main wife is like a banquet table – others sit after you’re done, and when you’re done, others will come to sit! I’m saying all this for your good, take it to heart, okay!”
Gui Lili let out a cold laugh, “Fine, thinking about it, Li Yifei isn’t all that great anyway. Let’s just say I’m giving him to you! I wish you both well in your struggle to buy a big house, drive a luxury car, and live in a mansion before retirement!”
Qian Fei snorted, “Gui Lili, are you serious? You still don’t know who Li Yifei’s father is? Let me tell you, that man in sportswear you saw back then, his name is Li Qiansheng, the Qiansheng of Qiansheng Group!” She paused, looking at Gui Lili’s face which was turning so white it seemed like lime was seeping out, and asked, “Now do you think we still need to struggle?”
Gui Lili held her head high, her face pale as she laughed, “Then you won’t be able to be so arrogant for long! Do you think with his family background and temperament, he could love someone like you faithfully for a lifetime? Let me tell you, Qian Fei, if you think so, you’re making a big mistake! Li Yifei is not that kind of faithful person! I’m saying this for your good too! Oh, and with him, even if you have children, you might not be able to secure the position of the main wife!”
Qian Fei looked at her with a smile, “That can’t be right. You’re talking about the old Li Yifei. The current Li Yifei isn’t like that anymore. He loves me to death!”
Gui Lili laughed, “Anyone can boast!”
Just as she finished speaking, an incredibly pleasant voice cut in, “She’s not boasting. I do love her to death, that’s right!”
Gui Lili looked at the man who had somehow walked up and was standing behind Qian Fei, her face looking as if she had accidentally swallowed something terrible.
Qian Fei turned around to see Li Yifei behind her, grinning with his pearly white teeth.
After Qian Fei got into the car, Li Yifei handed her a small knife, saying, “The sharpest knife in our house. Scratch wherever you want, feel free!”
Qian Fei asked, “What if your dad asks who scratched it?”
Li Yifei looked at Gui Lili, who was still standing not far away, clutching her chest and breathing heavily, and said, “Just say she did it!”
Qian Fei could no longer maintain her cold face and burst out laughing, “You’re mean!”
Li Yifei drove the car away in an incredibly flashy large arc. Through the rearview mirror, Qian Fei could almost feel the killing intent of resentment and jealousy radiating from Gui Lili’s eyes after refraction.
She looked at the rearview mirror and sighed, “When people act stupid, science can’t explain why. Just look at your ‘studied abroad’ ex-girlfriend. She had a pure-bred rich second generation who was simple and had lots of money, but she didn’t want him. Instead, she married a fat old man who couldn’t even give her a child after two years. Now that she finally knows the truth, when she goes home, won’t she cry herself to death biting the corner of her blanket?”
Li Yifei tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, “Let her cry, what does it have to do with me?” He turned his head to look at Qian Fei and said, “Sponsor Representative Qian, I want to ask you a few serious questions!”
Qian Fei grunted, “Sponsor Representative Qian is in a good mood now, go ahead and ask!”
Li Yifei said, “Remember, for the following questions, you only need to answer yes or no, nothing else. First question, did you just admit to Gui Lili that you said you like me, and like me very, very much?”
Qian Fei turned to look at him, “No!”
Li Yifei’s foot slipped on the gas pedal, and the car jolted.
He turned his head, eyes wide, “How is it not? I heard it!”
Qian Fei said, “I only said ‘very much’ once!”
Li Yifei cursed, “Fine, you win! Let me ask again, did you tell Gui Lili that you like me very much?”
Qian Fei answered, “Yes!”
Li Yifei continued to ask, “When you say you like someone, doesn’t that mean you like everything about them?”
Qian Fei answered, “Yes.”
Li Yifei continued, “Then doesn’t this ‘everything’ include their English name?”
Qian Fei answered decisively, “No.”
In his excitement, Li Yifei drove the car in an S-shape, “How is it not?”
Qian Fei laughed and said, “Because people like me who haven’t been abroad don’t have English names, so our ‘everything’ doesn’t include an English name!”
Li Yifei felt like kneeling.
He couldn’t understand how someone as brilliant as himself could get so tangled up in his logic.
In the time that followed, the restructuring project progressed smoothly.
In the later stages of the work, Wang Ruohai was discharged from the hospital and returned to the company. He learned from Liao Shiyu who Qian Fei’s current boyfriend was.
From then on, he never sought out Qian Fei outside of work hours.
The project was progressing steadily according to the pre-set plan. But just as they were about to achieve great success, things suddenly took a turn for the worse, and some unexpected situations occurred in the group.
Someone deliberately framed Qiansheng, first spreading rumors to the media, then reporting to the industrial and commercial bureau, saying that the fabrics used in the clothing produced by Qiansheng Group’s large clothing company were problematic, that Qiansheng was passing off inferior goods as quality ones, harming consumers’ interests. Then, when the relevant departments conducted a surprise inspection on-site, they found some problematic fabrics. After investigating the source of these fabrics, Li Yifei traced it back and found that it was the work of an insider from a long-term supplier, and this person happened to have the surname Gui.
Li Yifei knew the finances of Gui Lili’s husband’s company inside out and knew better than anyone where the problems were. If he reported it, that company would never be able to go public. He decided to talk to Director Niu after dealing with the matters at hand, to give him a choice between his wasteful wife and the company’s listing.
In this incident, some media exaggerated the news, greatly damaging Qiansheng Group’s image and causing the stock price of the listed company to drop significantly.
Li Yifei, along with Deputy General Manager Liao and the company’s major shareholders and senior executives, held meetings for three consecutive days, urgently discussing crisis PR plans while trying to find ways to solve the current predicament.
Because it involved the stock price of the listed company, Li Yifei called Qian Fei and the project team to participate in the meetings. Although they were outsiders and it wasn’t convenient for them to give advice, they could play a gatekeeper role on issues related to the listed company.
When things reached an impasse, Deputy General Manager Liao proposed an idea at the meeting.
“Recently, there’s a celebrity called Jin Tian who’s very popular, especially influential among young people. Our clothing is mainly targeted at young people, so if we could get her to endorse us, we might be able to solve this problem!”
Everyone thought this plan was feasible. Liao Shiyu raised a concern: “But now the clothing company has a very bad reputation. Despite our crisis PR efforts, the public still thinks we’re doing unethical business. This plan is good, but I’m worried that this popular celebrity might not agree. If people say she’s being unethical just to earn some endorsement fees, it would be too much of a loss for her!”
Deputy General Manager Liao said, “But I heard from Chengcheng before that Jin Tian and Yifei have some connection,” he turned to ask Li Yifei, “Yifei, why don’t you talk to her? Maybe this could work!”
Li Yifei turned to look at Qian Fei.
Qian Fei nodded at him, “Go ahead, this is important business.”
Jin Tian readily agreed to Li Yifei’s request, was willing to endorse Qiansheng Group’s clothing company, and promised to donate all the endorsement fees to build primary schools in western mountain villages.
Qian Fei thought this was a smart girl, immediately shutting the mouths of those who might say she would do anything for money, and also establishing a pure and kind image for herself.
Of course, she also understood that if it weren’t for Li Yifei, Jin Tian wouldn’t have taken this endorsement that didn’t earn her a penny. If she had taken endorsements from other clothing companies, she wouldn’t have needed to donate her fees.
On the day she came to Qiansheng to sign the contract, Jin Tian cornered Qian Fei at the bathroom door. She raised her chin and asked, “Do you know why I agreed?”
Qian Fei smiled warmly, “If I say I don’t want to know, I’m afraid you’ll burst.”
Jin Tian’s facial expression froze for a moment, but she quickly blossomed into a beautiful smile, “It doesn’t matter whether you want to know or not, I just want to tell you, that I did this to make Li Yifei owe me! When a man owes a woman, he will always remember her in his heart, never forgetting!” She looked at Qian Fei, a trace of unwillingness flashing in her eyes, “I genuinely like him, but you appeared. If it weren’t for you, maybe we would have been together! But it’s okay, even if he’s with you in the future, there will always be a corner in his heart remembering me!”
Qian Fei lowered her eyelids and smiled.
Then she raised her eyes and looked at Jin Tian, saying, “He will always leave some space in his heart for others, it’s okay, I’m not as greedy as you imagine.”
With that, she gracefully walked past Jin Tian and went to the office.
Jin Tian looked at her back, frowning.
That girl’s aura seemed very different from before. She seemed unable to suppress her even with such an aggressive approach. She had said what she wanted to say, but why didn’t she feel any sense of victory? She walked into the bathroom, feeling somewhat melancholic.
In the shadows of the adjacent men’s room, Li Yifei quietly walked out.
Jin Tian’s endorsement solved the crisis for Qiansheng.
Qian Fei silently marveled at how much can change in just a short time. Back then, this girl could only appear on a few inconspicuous billboards, but now she has enormous influence among young people. With her influence, she helped turn around a company’s declining situation and defeat in an extremely short time.
The negative impact on the clothing company gradually disappeared, and its reputation was re-established. The stock price of the listed company also stabilized. The restructuring plan continued to proceed smoothly.
Everyone in the group was praising Jin Tian’s achievements, her popularity was unparalleled, even overshadowing the beautiful Sponsor Representative Qian.
At the clothing company’s celebration banquet, Li Yifei toasted Deputy General Manager Liao, thanking him for coming up with the idea of finding Jin Tian, which resolved the group’s business crisis.
However, Deputy General Manager Liao smiled and said, “I dare not take credit for this! This idea was suggested by Sponsor Representative Qian. Otherwise, do you think someone my age would know who Jin Tian is?”
Li Yifei suddenly felt a fire burning in his heart.
He found Qian Fei in a corner, looking at financial news on her phone. He sat down beside her, nudged her with his elbow, and said, “I heard everything you and Jin Tian said at the bathroom door that day.”
Qian Fei raised her head, looked at him, said “Oh,” and then lowered her head to continue looking at her phone. But after a while, she still hadn’t turned the page.
Li Yifei said, “By rights, Jin Tian’s little trick was quite smooth, she knows how to capture a man’s psychology. But now I find that in front of you, she’s just a novice!” He put his arm around her shoulder, swaying his arm and her along with it, saying, “Tell me, have you studied psychology? I originally thought I really should, as Jin Tian said, always remember in my heart that she helped me. But today when Uncle Liao told me that the idea of inviting Jin Tian was yours, my heart suddenly turned upside down and was all filled with you! How did you become so crafty?”
Qian Fei looked up and smiled at him, “If I didn’t become a bit crafty, I’d be afraid you’d always have others in your heart!”
Li Yifei swayed her again, also smiling, “Sponsor Representative Qian, why don’t you come to my house tomorrow? Meet my old man, help me irritate him, and knock him down a peg!”
Qian Fei raised an eyebrow, “Alright! Let’s go! Not going would make me seem timid! Remember to tell your dad to take some quick-acting heart-saving pills or something beforehand!”
The next day, Li Yifei truly brought Qian Fei to his home.
Before entering, Li Yifei asked, “Jinny, are you scared?”
Qian Fei looked at him expressionlessly, “Until I say your English name sounds nice, please call me Chief Qian or Investment Representative Qian.”
Li Yifei shook his hand, “Oh, come on! This isn’t over yet? Fine, Investment Representative Qian, I shouldn’t have asked. I can see you’re not afraid at all!”
He led Qian Fei inside and headed straight for the study.
Standing outside the study, he knocked on the door and called out, “Old man, come out and greet our guest!”
A deep, sonorous voice responded from inside.
“You little rascal, get in here.”
Li Yifei opened the door with a grin, leading Qian Fei inside.
Qian Fei saw a distinguished-looking middle-aged man sitting at the desk, his eyes sharp as if they could see right through a person.
Li Yifei pointed at the man behind the desk and said to Qian Fei, “This is Li Qiansheng. When I’m in a good mood, he’s my dad. When I’m not, he’s just an old man who looks a lot like me. Investment Representative Qian, don’t be shy. Let me tell you a secret: he only looks fierce, but he’s all bark and no bite.”
As he was about to continue, Li Qiansheng interrupted him.
Li Qiansheng said concisely, “You, get out. Close the door behind you. I want to talk to Qian Fei alone.”
Li Yifei looked at Qian Fei and asked, “Is that okay?”
Qian Fei replied, “Sure, I think it’ll be fine. Don’t worry, I’ll try not to stress him out to the point of needing medication. You can go.”
Li Yifei turned to Li Qiansheng and said, “Listen, don’t act like those TV dramas, getting all sentimental and handing her a check. I’ll walk out and never come back if you do! I mean it this time, I’ll even change my surname and cut all ties!”
Li Qiansheng coldly replied, “Do you think I have that kind of spare cash now?”
Li Yifei thought about how the group’s restructuring had already dealt a heavy blow, and they had spent quite a bit to resolve the crisis with the clothing company. Calculating it all, there wasn’t much freely available cash on the group’s books now.
“You’re right, our family has a bunch of bad debts now!”
Li Qiansheng’s mouth twitched, and with an incredibly cold and murderous face, he uttered five words in a thick Northeastern accent, “Get out of here, kid!”
Looking at that cold face and hearing the heavily accented Northeastern dialect that utterly clashed with it, Qian Fei felt like she was about to have a mental breakdown.
She wondered if Li Yifei’s father might be from the Northeast, just like Jun Cheng’s mother…
Li Yifei went out, closing the door behind him.
Li Qiansheng pointed to the chair opposite him and said to Qian Fei, “Sit.”
Qian Fei sat down confidently.
Li Qiansheng looked at her with piercing eyes and got straight to the point: “If it weren’t for these two recent incidents with the group, I would never have agreed to him having a girlfriend from an unsuitable background.”
Qian Fei let out a laugh and said, “If I hadn’t heard that you have some heart problems now, I would give you a sharp retort.”
Li Qiansheng raised an eyebrow, “Such as?”
Qian Fei said, “For instance, Fan Bingbing once said, ‘I don’t need to marry into a wealthy family because I am the wealthy family!’ Or that I’m already an investment representative, and after completing a few projects, I’ll be rich too. The money I earn myself is enough for me and my parents to live a comfortable life. Or that given the current state of your family, with just that little cash in your accounts, you’re still worrying about someone trying to get their hands on your assets! In my opinion, you should worry less and take care of your health more. That little cash in your account isn’t even worth anyone’s effort to scheme over!”
Li Qiansheng’s lips twitched into a smile, “You’ve got some personality.” After a pause, he asked seriously, “If I were to write you a check now, which could be cashed anytime once the group’s finances improve, what would you do?”
Without hesitation, Qian Fei said, “Do you even need to ask? Of course, I’d take it and leave!”
Li Qiansheng frowned, “You wouldn’t throw it back in my face?”
Qian Fei laughed, “You’ve watched too many TV dramas, haven’t you? I’d have to be crazy to hold a grudge against money.”
Li Qiansheng leaned back in his chair, hands clasped over his stomach, and asked with a sharp gaze, “Which do you love more, money or my son?”
Qian Fei said seriously, “I think you should ask me if one-day money and your son both fell into a river, which one would I save?”
Li Qiansheng asked, “Which one would you save?”
Without hesitation, Qian Fei said, “I’d save the money, of course! Alright, I admit defeat, you asked. What’s there to ask? Your son is a great swimmer! I heard his father taught him hands-on when he was little!”
Li Qiansheng burst into laughter.
For the entire afternoon, Li Yifei sat on a chair outside the study.
At first, it was quiet inside. Later, he could hear occasional bursts of laughter.
The terrifying thing was, the laughter wasn’t Qian Fei’s, but his father’s.
As time went on, his father’s laughter became more frequent and heartier.
It seemed his father was quite tickled by his future daughter-in-law’s ability to hit his supposedly profound funny bone.
Listening to his father’s laughter, Li Yifei was horrified. His Jinny had become something else now, not only capable in the kitchen and presentable in the living room but also able to handle projects and play tough. Now she could even win over the big boss of his family!
He felt he was about to lose control over her!
He quickly took out his phone and anxiously checked his reflection.
Seeing that the face on the screen was still stunningly handsome, he finally felt somewhat reassured.
A month later, the restructuring of Qiansheng Group’s listed subsidiary was successful, the stock price stabilized, and the entire group was thriving and prosperous.
At the celebration party, the big boss Li Qiansheng personally attended.
After receiving congratulations from all sides, Li Qiansheng pushed Li Yifei to the forefront and officially announced that he would take over most of his work at the group in the future. Taking advantage of Li Yifei being surrounded by well-wishers, Li Qiansheng called Qian Fei to his side and said to her, “Now that the group is running well, the cash on our books will soon increase, and we’ll become one of the wealthiest families again. Don’t you think I should arrange for my son to marry a suitable wealthy heiress?”
Qian Fei raised an eyebrow at him, “Oh, Old Man Li if your son agrees to that, I have no objections!”
Li Qiansheng looked at her and said, “I heard the general manager of the business department at headquarters is your ex-boyfriend.”
Qian Fei said, “I sincerely wish him and your family friend’s niece all the best and hope they’ll get together soon!”
Li Qiansheng snorted, “If they could be together, they would have been long ago.”
Qian Fei also snorted, “Your energy is boundless, knowing everything. No wonder your health was poor recently. I think it’s from overthinking and exhaustion.”
Li Qiansheng took two glasses of red wine and handed one to Qian Fei, “You’re the only one who dares to talk to me like this. Everyone else is so respectful to me.”
Qian Fei took the wine glass, “That’s because I have nothing to gain from you, so I tell myself not to feel inferior and to be neither obsequious nor arrogant!”
Li Qiansheng raised his glass to her, and Qian Fei clinked her glass with his.
“Qian Fei, I called you over because I wanted to say thank you. My son lost his mother when he was very young, and I spoiled him. I know better than anyone how willful, arrogant, playful, selfish, lazy, and irresponsible he can be. But I’ve noticed that since he started living with you, he’s changed completely, inside and out. It’s not an exaggeration to say he’s been transformed.”
Hearing Old Li’s first heart-to-heart talk with her, Qian Fei snorted, “Old Man Li, let me clarify something with you. We’re roommates, not living together!”
Li Qiansheng said with a straight face, “It’s all the same to me.”
Qian Fei raised her hand and helplessly patted her forehead.
There’s no point in trying to explain things clearly to older people.
Li Qiansheng continued, “The other day when he came home, I nearly had to take medication when I saw him cook a pot of rice in the rice cooker for the first time. And the surprises didn’t stop there. He even knows how to wash dishes after meals now, and he unconsciously does housework, tidies up the house, washes clothes, and sometimes even helps me wash my socks. He’s also started to consider others’ perspectives when interacting with people. I’m very happy to see these changes in him. Although I keep saying you’ve never been abroad, I’m very grateful that you’ve trained him to be like this now. Seeing him like this, I think I can feel at ease entrusting him to the girl who can make him better and better, even if this girl is from out of town, just passed the investment representative exam, has never studied abroad, and bought a house only to sell it with great effort.”
Qian Fei had been listening to the first part of his speech, thinking that this Old Man Li was a good old man with a cold exterior but a warm heart. But when she heard the last sentence, she felt she had thought too much. This Old Man Li was just a cold-faced, heart-diseased, sharp-tongued old man.
She pouted, “Why does it sound like I’ve taken advantage of the situation? Even if you want to hand him over to me now, I, Investment Representative Qian, might not be willing to take him!”
Li Qiansheng smiled, “Then it’s up to you. If you don’t want him, I might as well find him a wealthy heiress!”
After the restructuring of Qiansheng Group, Li Yifei officially entered the group and began to gradually take over some of Li Qiansheng’s work.
He was incredibly busy.
Qian Fei quietly took annual leave, contacted a travel agency, and prepared to travel abroad for a week. She didn’t tell Li Yifei; she planned to step out on her own and properly meet those high-nosed, wide-eyed European and American guys.
She had told him before that she would also do something without telling him first, to get back at him for not telling her who his father was.
She carried a simple travel bag and boarded the plane with ease.
Watching others struggling with their suitcases, she couldn’t help but sigh. Over the past two years, she has increasingly discovered that life should be lived freely and easily. What was there to bring? If anything was missing, she could buy it along the way. After all, an investment representative like her could now earn big money.
She leaned against the window, looking outside, waiting for the plane to take off.
Her blurry reflection appeared on the window. Looking at her indistinct image, she felt that compared to two years ago, some things about her had changed.
She had become more confident, no longer a pushover without principles, and had also become more feminine.
She smiled at her reflection.
She should thank that person. Without him, there wouldn’t be the confident and decisive she of today.
She yawned. Having slept too late last night, she was a bit tired. Not waiting for the plane to take off, she took out her eye mask and put it on.
With the eye mask on, she suddenly couldn’t fall asleep. She lay there with her eyes closed, lost in random thoughts, and inevitably thought of that troublemaker.
What was he doing now? If he knew she was traveling abroad alone without telling him, what would he do? Would he put down his work, find out her itinerary, and chase after her?
Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but mock herself. She had watched too many cheesy TV dramas, daydreaming like an innocent young girl.
She felt someone sit down in the seat next to her, their arm brushing against hers. She moved inward a bit.
The plane took off.
The flight attendant came over to ask if they needed anything to drink.
She thought she’d just let people think she was already asleep, so she didn’t say anything.
But then she heard a familiar voice answering crisply, “Two orange juices, please. One for me and one for the lady inside!”
That voice was too familiar!
She quickly lifted her eye mask.
As she turned her head, she saw her troublemaker grinning at her with a mouth full of white teeth.
He said, “Hi, beautiful! My name is How Teen. What’s yours?”
She couldn’t help but smile brightly back at him.