At a bar, a group of young people were rolling dice and drinking.
A young man with a trendy hairstyle lost and everyone jeered, “Dajun, drink up, hurry!”
The one called Dajun didn’t hesitate. He picked up the drink and downed it. After putting down his glass, he shoved the person next to him.
“Li Yifei, what are you doing? You’ve been texting the whole time, making me lose constantly!”
Li Yifei smirked, “How is your loss related to me?”
Dajun retorted, “How is it not related? Do you know how many times I had to top up my phone bill to exchange for that bag of lousy tea leaves for you? And then you don’t even cherish it, casually giving it away to someone else! Aren’t you just messing with me?”
Li Yifei had originally intended to give the tea to Gui Lili for her father. But when Gui Lili didn’t come home late at night, he angrily gave the tea to Qian Fei instead.
Li Yifei brushed it off, “Come on, even if I didn’t let you exchange for tea, would you have topped up less? You think I don’t know you’re playing online games behind your mom’s back?”
Dajun complained, “My mom is so ridiculous. How old am I, and she’s still watching me! She keeps a tight grip on my bank card, threatening that if she sees any more game top-ups in the transaction details, she’ll take a knife to me! How cruel is this old lady! By the way, how about you take a week off and help me clear the game?”
Li Yifei let out a cold laugh, “Get down on your knees and beg me!”
Dajun spat out a “Pah!”
Li Yifei glanced at him and said, “But how long do you think you can keep topping up your game card through phone bills? Your mom’s not stupid. You top up so much at once and it’s gone in a few days. How can she not wonder what’s going on?”
Dajun swept his hair back, “I’ll get away with it as long as I can! Life is short, we must seize the day and make as much trouble as possible!”
Li Yifei said, “Oh, is that so? Then next time remember to get me the 29,999 yuan tea. I always feel the 18,888 yuan one is a bit embarrassing to give.”
Dajun kicked him, “Get lost! Do you want me to die with hundreds of millions in unused phone credit?” Then he asked, “How are things going with that true love girlfriend of yours recently? Still fighting like there’s no tomorrow?”
Li Yifei gave him a sidelong glance.
Dajun sighed, “If you ask me, you should just listen to the old man!”
Li Yifei stood up to leave.
Dajun quickly grabbed him, “Alright, alright! I won’t mention it again, okay?” To divert attention, he changed the subject, “Who were you texting just now?”
Li Yifei’s eyelids drooped, “Someone quite interesting.”
Dajun squinted at him, grinning mischievously, “Male or female?”
Li Yifei leaned over to grab the dice cup.
“If you win against me, I’ll tell you if it’s a man or woman!”
All night, Dajun went out to vomit eight times but still couldn’t find out if the interesting person was male or female.
Before collapsing, he clutched Li Yifei’s collar and asked stubbornly, “It’s a woman, isn’t it?!”
Li Yifei pried his hand off, “It’s a woman, okay? Let go of me already!”
Dajun pointed at him, swaying and grinning foolishly, “Are you… giving up on your little true love… deciding to have an affair?”
Li Yifei pushed his face away with one hand, “Affair my ass! She’s more manly than you! Can you get it up for a man? I certainly can’t. This young master only likes pretty girls who are fresh, tender, delicate, and soft!”
“Like your little true love?” Before he could wait for an answer, Dajun covered his mouth and ran out to vomit again.
Li Yifei lowered his head to check the text message he hadn’t had time to read earlier.
That tomboy had asked him, “Is your buddy married? Or if he’s unfortunately already married, does he have any unmarried brothers?”
He couldn’t resist teasing her and replied: Yes, me.
After a while, the tomboy sent back a message: Maybe I should just throw away the tea…
He couldn’t help but smirk.
The next day, Qian Fei brought the tea to the company. To ease her conscience a bit, she decided to pay for this month’s electricity bill herself.
At the company, seizing the right moment when Director Kong’s office was empty, Qian Fei sneaked in like a thief, knocking and slipping inside.
She steeled herself and expressed everything Sister Jin had taught her, then handed over the tea. She saw Director Kong’s eyes light up when he saw the bag. She understood that look – it meant he recognized the value.
Her anxious heart finally settled with a thud.
Sure enough, in the afternoon meeting, she was also called into the conference room. The meeting was chaired by Director Kong, and the main content was the formation of the hotel IPO sponsorship project team. The project team leader was Liu Yifeng, a sponsorship representative personally trained by Director Kong, and the team members included her and several other colleagues. Director Kong said that this project would be jointly sponsored with another securities firm, and he told everyone to review the hotel’s information after the meeting, as they would soon be going to the hotel site for due diligence and restructuring work.
After the meeting, Qian Fei was excited and elated. She felt as if she could see pink banknotes spreading their wings and flying recklessly into her arms.
That evening after work, she called Yao Jingjing, still excited, to tell her that she had finally joined a project team. On the other end of the phone, Yao Jingjing sighed, “Is this something to be so happy about? This is something you should have achieved years ago!”
Qian Fei scoffed, displeased, “Don’t talk like you know how it feels! Why don’t you come and try working at our company? I guarantee you wouldn’t have made it into a project team even now!”
Yao Jingjing snorted, “Look at your low ambitions! If I went to your company, I wouldn’t be joining any project team. By now, you might have to call me ‘leader’s wife’!”
Qian Fei’s knees almost gave way, nearly kneeling.
“Sis, can you not go down the path of seducing people? Oh right, speaking of seduction, how are things going in Dalian? How far have you gotten with that rich guy?”
She heard Yao Jingjing let out a long sigh, “Ah, how should I put it? I feel like the rich guy has feelings for me, but somehow an ex-girlfriend showed up out of nowhere. His attitude towards this ex is too ambiguous, I can’t quite figure it out. But one thing’s for sure, his ex-girlfriend wants to eat him up as a backup plan. As for me, I’ve been in a fierce battle of wits with his ex-girlfriend!”
Qian Fei clicked her tongue twice and generously offered encouragement, “I hope your natural thick skin and self-proclaimed invincible charm can fend off all unnecessary new and old loves!”
Yao Jingjing calmly thanked her, “Thank you very much!” Then she asked, “How are things going with that blind date of yours?”
Qian Fei sighed, “Don’t mention it, I was just about to tell you. Last time he took me to his place, wanting to sleep with me. I was too principled that day, thinking about promoting socialist harmony, so I didn’t go along with it. As a result, he seems quite unhappy and hasn’t talked to me since.”
Yao Jingjing laughed, “This guy is straightforward, huh? He can display his dissatisfaction from not getting what he wanted so blatantly! How desperate is he? Listen, Fei Fei, this is a problem, you can’t indulge it. Ignore him for a few days. If he keeps this up, just end it with him. If he comes looking for you, then judge his attitude and consider whether to continue seeing him!”
Hearing her say the same thing as Xiao Yuan, Qian Fei became even more determined. She decided not to chase after Hu Zining’s cold attitude for the next few days.
Before hanging up, Qian Fei remembered something and quickly instructed Yao Jingjing, “Jingjing, I’m telling you, don’t report my life updates to Wang Ruohai anymore! Like hanging up on me and immediately telling him I’ve joined a project team and I’m going to make big money, okay?”
Yao Jingjing laughed heartily on the other end of the phone, “Haha! Fei Fei, this is why we’re best friends, you know me too well! Alright, alright, since you’ve instructed me, I won’t say anything voluntarily! But if he takes the initiative to be nosy and calls to ask, I can’t control my mouth, okay?”
Qian Fei sighed helplessly, “Can’t you stop stirring up trouble and enjoying the show?”
Yao Jingjing replied without hesitation, “Absolutely not! In my lifetime, I must make Wang Ruohai deeply realize that what he lost is a treasure he can never find again!”
Qian Fei suddenly felt like crying, not for Wang Ruohai, but for Yao Jingjing’s seemingly carefree exterior that masked a heart that cared for her in every way.
Qian Fei and her colleagues spent about a week preparing for the work. The project leader assigned specific tasks to each person. Qian Fei had been hopeful, thinking she could finally participate in restructuring, guidance, and drafting the prospectus, but the task assigned to her was still compiling and organizing work documents.
Qian Fei was somewhat disappointed, but quickly regained her fighting spirit.
Even if it was still organizing work documents, this time she was at least a legitimate member of the project team, entitled to a share of the project bonus.
Although the bonus allocated to her might not be as much as other members, it was still several times better than the few hundred yuan she used to get for helping out as an outsider.
During the week, she saw that Li Yifei was also working late. Once, after working overtime, they bumped into each other at the subway station and exchanged a few words. That’s how she learned that Li Yifei’s team was also preparing for a project.
Throughout the week, Li Yifei and Gui Lili’s arguments continued. Sometimes she thought these two were truly miraculous, arguing like that every day and still not breaking up – it was like the eighth wonder of the world. She felt she should be awarded the title of Beijing’s Number One Noise Resistance Pioneer, managing to stay mentally healthy and still longing for marriage and family despite listening to their constant bickering, and still hoping for a WeChat message from Hu Zining, who had ignored her after failing to sleep with her.
After a busy week, Qian Fei and her colleagues officially entered the hotel site to conduct due diligence.
On the first day at the site, Qian Fei was utterly surprised to see Li Yifei – it turned out that his securities firm was the joint sponsor working with her company on the hotel’s IPO.
Li Yifei seemed a bit surprised to see her too. She saw him raise an eyebrow at her.
After the two securities firms held a meeting to clarify their respective tasks and responsibilities, it was almost lunchtime. The hotel’s chairman and senior executives personally accompanied them in a private room at the staff cafeteria. On the way to the cafeteria, Qian Fei felt a bit of the elation of being an investment banker, noticing the reverent and envious looks from the hotel staff. Joining the project team indeed meant interacting with successful people who had money and status. Interacting with such people gave Qian Fei a surreal and wonderful feeling, as if she too was about to become a successful person in society.
Throughout the meal, the hotel leaders and project team members praised each other and toasted, and Qian Fei inevitably drank a few glasses. By the end of the meal, Qian Fei felt a bit dizzy.
As they were leaving the restaurant, the hotel chairman shook hands with each project team member. When he got to Qian Fei, the chairman smiled and said, “Such talented young people these days! Even such a young girl can independently handle an IPO! I can’t help but feel old! It seems it’s time for me to step aside!”