Qian Fei looked carefully and was certain she hadn’t seen wrong. The woman was indeed Gui Lili and the man she was arm-in-arm with appeared to be around forty, slightly chubby, with the air of a wealthy gentleman.
Qian Fei quickly ducked to the side and turned her back.
Gui Lili gracefully passed by with the older man. Her attention seemed entirely focused on the sparkling pigeon egg-sized diamond on her finger, and she didn’t notice Qian Fei at all.
Qian Fei faintly heard the older man ask, “Do you like it?”
Gui Lili replied coquettishly, “I love it, but I feel it’s too expensive!”
The man patted her hand, “As long as you like it! By the way, didn’t you fancy that Lexus sports car? I’ve already arranged everything with the dealership. I’ve transferred the money, and you can pick up the car next week!”
Gui Lili said something else, but Qian Fei couldn’t hear clearly as the couple had moved further away.
Combining this with the argument she had overheard between Li Yifei and Gui Lili earlier, Qian Fei guessed that the older man might be Gui Lili’s fabled boss.
She stood there, sighing endlessly, feeling as if she had witnessed a profound drama of life.
Suddenly, she felt a bit of sympathy for Li Yifei.
Looking at how this big boss wooed women, with such grand gestures and willingness to spend – offering pigeon egg-sized diamonds and Lexus sports cars – while Li Yifei was now just a junior investment banker sharing a rental apartment. Even if Li Yifei was handsome, good looks couldn’t be eaten or spent. Moreover, with his pampered nature, not do any housework, is too lazy to even operate a fully automatic washing machine, and often extravagantly sends clothes out for dry cleaning. In comparison, Qian Fei almost felt that if she were Gui Lili, she might have run off with the wealthy boss too.
After returning home, her eyelid kept twitching. She wanted to ask Li Yifei what he planned to do about his relationship with Gui Lili, and whether she should tell him what she had seen that afternoon to sound an alarm. But she hesitated, thinking it might be too crushing for someone as face-conscious as Li Yifei.
As she was hesitating, her phone suddenly rang. She looked at the caller ID and was stunned.
It was Gui Lili.
Answering the call, she heard Gui Lili say on the other end, “Qian Fei, it’s like this. I’ve decided to break up with Li Yifei. I’ll come back tomorrow to get my things. Could you help me tell Li Yifei to pack up my stuff? I’ll come pick them up and leave tomorrow.”
Qian Fei was taken aback, “Well, Gui Lili, why don’t you tell Li Yifei yourself? It’s not appropriate for me to relay this kind of message, is it?”
Gui Lili sniffled, her voice tinged with a wronged, tearful tone: “I can’t talk to him right now. He’s hurt me too deeply!”
Qian Fei suddenly remembered the scene she had witnessed at the entrance of “City of Love” earlier that day.
If she hadn’t seen her that afternoon, hearing her aggrieved voice now would have certainly softened Qian Fei’s heart. But knowing she could accept material benefits from another man and still cry out in such a delicate voice, Qian Fei was impressed. Life is like a play, all about acting skills – this saying wasn’t wrong at all. She had truly encountered a great actress.
“Gui Lili,” Qian Fei didn’t want to be a manipulated fool anymore, “I’m just your landlord. I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to relay this kind of message. You should tell Li Yifei yourself!”
She was about to hang up when Gui Lili called out loudly, “Qian Fei! Wait!” Qian Fei, in a moment of mental lapse, actually waited.
“Qian Fei! I’m begging you! Just help me pass on this message this once, okay? Please! If I call him myself, he’ll throw away all my things! Many of my clothes are very expensive! Qian Fei, please! Go talk to him nicely, persuade him to part on good terms, and not act impulsively. Then help me sort out my things, okay?”
Her voice grew increasingly soft and pleading, giving Qian Fei a headache.
“Gui Lili, I’m an outsider. You should discuss breaking up face-to-face with Li Yifei. Using a third party to relay messages, what kind of behavior is that? Don’t you agree?”
Gui Lili continued to beg, “Please help me, Qian Fei. I’m afraid to call him!”
Qian Fei felt a bit irritated, “Gui Lili, I really can’t get involved in this. At most, I can only pass on a message for you, okay?”
After hanging up, Qian Fei felt a throbbing pain in her head.
She took a deep breath and walked to Li Yifei’s room, knocking on the door.
The moment Li Yifei opened the door, Qian Fei felt as if she had time-traveled to a chaotic era.
Li Yifei’s room was as messy as if it had been ransacked by enemy troops.
Qian Fei was dumbfounded: “Li Yifei, are you serious? You can live in a room this messy? And still manage to go to work looking presentable every day? How do you do it? You make me witness miracles daily!”
Li Yifei’s face was cold, “Don’t act like you’re just seeing my room for the first time!”
Qian Fei was taken aback. She had glimpsed him kicking the coffee table from his doorway before, but at that time, her attention had been drawn to his foot, and she hadn’t noticed what his room looked like.
Qian Fei asked incredulously, “Your room, it hasn’t been this messy since you moved in, has it?”
Li Yifei raised an eyebrow at her, “You didn’t come knocking on my door to discuss the cleanliness of my room, did you?”
Qian Fei was stunned, remembering what she had to say next, and immediately felt her scalp tingle.
“It’s like this, Gui Lili called me and said, well, for you to pack up her things or something. She’s coming to get them tomorrow…”
Her voice grew weaker as she spoke, seeing Li Yifei’s face turn increasingly ashen.
“What does she mean? Why didn’t she call me herself?” he asked coldly.
Qian Fei didn’t dare meet his furious gaze for a moment, her eyes darting around, “How would I know? This is between you two. I’m just passing on the message. Don’t shoot the messenger!”
Li Yifei gave a cold laugh, stepped back, and cleared the doorway, “Didn’t she tell you to pack up her things? Then you come and pack for her!”
Qian Fei was stunned. How could these two be so unreasonable?
She couldn’t bear it anymore: “What’s wrong with you two? Whether you want to break up or live or die, can you leave me out of it? I’m just an ordinary landlord among thousands, not a community mediator! Look, I’ve delivered the message. Whether you pack her things is your business, whether she comes to get them is hers. Just forget about me! Goodbye!” With that, she clutched her startled heart and leaned against the wall as she returned to her room.
As she stayed in her room, she suddenly heard a series of loud noises outside. When it quieted down a bit, she quietly opened the door and peeked out.
What she saw made her furious.
Li Yifei had thrown all of Gui Lili’s belongings into the living room, creating a huge mess.
She held back her anger, went to the kitchen to find several large black garbage bags, and started packing Gui Lili’s things.
As she was tidying up, Li Yifei’s room door opened, and like an invisible hand, he tossed out several more of Gui Lili’s items, including a bottle of perfume that clattered on the ground, startling Qian Fei. She feared the glass bottle might not be sturdy and would shatter as it rolled.
Seeing the just-cleaned living room instantly become messy again, and watching Li Yifei about to throw out lotions and toners, Qian Fei immediately lost her temper and shouted to stop him: “Li Yifei, don’t you dare throw those! I’ll call the police and report you for misconduct!”
She wanted to ask Li Yifei if his parents had never taught him to be ethical, polite, and not destructive in other people’s homes.