After that night of drinking, Qian Fei felt that Li Yifei had finally returned to his normal self. On Monday morning, as Qian Fei was about to leave for work as usual, she encountered Li Yifei at the door, already neatly dressed and looking presentable.
“Let’s go together,” he said.
Qian Fei was confused: “Why? Did staying at home for a week make you stupid? Forgot the way to work?”
Li Yifei glanced at her sideways: “Sister, can you accumulate some virtue in your speech?”
Qian Fei chuckled: “Please, don’t call me that intimately, I can’t handle it! My family can’t afford to support a pampered young master like you!” She paused, then asked curiously, “Tell me, is your personality like this because you grew up without a mother and were spoiled by your father?”
Li Yifei nodded, arrogantly declaring: “If your family had a delicate and exceptionally intelligent little boy, you wouldn’t be able to resist spoiling him to death from a young age.”
Qian Fei couldn’t hold back: “Pfft! Can your language be any more shameless? I feel sorry for your dad, spoiling you like this only to have you go against his wishes. You ungrateful wretch!”
Li Yifei gave her a look, “The old man has a complex personality. Many things are beyond your intelligence to comprehend. Are you going or not? We’ll be late if we don’t leave now!”
Qian Fei quickly put away her witty remarks, and they left the house together.
On the way to the subway, Qian Fei bought a jianbing (Chinese crepe) from a street vendor. Li Yifei waited beside her with a look of disgust.
Qian Fei turned her head and saw his expression, unable to hold back a snort: “I told you my family can’t afford to raise a young master like you! Always looking down on the most basic food of the working people!”
Li Yifei saw her take one set of jianbing and was about to leave, so he stopped her and said: “You only bought one set? Where’s mine?”
Qian Fei was confused, “Wait, didn’t you just look at the jianbing with disgust?”
Li Yifei snorted and said: “My disgust just now wasn’t aimed at the jianbing but at your ugly behavior of almost kneeling to the vendor just to pick a slightly bigger egg!”
Qian Fei threw the jianbing at Li Yifei’s face, “Don’t choke on it!”
As usual, the subway was so crowded it could get someone pregnant without knowing who the father was.
Qian Fei felt like she was being squeezed out of shape.
At Guomao station, they transferred to Line 1. As they squeezed onto Line 1, Qian Fei said to Li Yifei: “Every time I take the subway to and from work, I have the urge to end it all!”
Li Yifei looked at her and said: “Every time I feel like dying from the crowded subway, I think about how people like you are still alive, and then I don’t want to die anymore.”
Qian Fei squeezed onto Line 1 and pushed Li Yifei back, “Get lost! Wait for the next one, seeing you just annoys me!”
Li Yifei took advantage of her push to grab her arm and forcefully squeeze in as well, “Don’t worry! To keep annoying you, I’ll stay alive and well!”
Qian Fei gave up. Was this someone who had just gone through a breakup? Or was it that the breakup had completely unearthed the dark side of his heart, and he was now ready to torment humanity?
As the doors slowly closed, Qian Fei and Li Yifei could maintain some distance while they were open. But once closed, the space suddenly became as narrow as if it was under high pressure and about to explode. She and Li Yifei were pressed tightly together.
Someone behind Qian Fei kept pushing forward, asking, “Are you getting off at the next stop?”
With each push from behind, Qian Fei had no choice but to press harder against Li Yifei.
Qian Fei couldn’t help but look up at Li Yifei and say: “Why do I feel like I’m throwing myself at you? This is so awkward!”
Li Yifei looked down at her with drooping eyelids, “Don’t feel burdened. In my eyes, you’re a true man!”
Qian Fei wished she could spit a face full of jianbing at him.
The train arrived at another station, and many people squeezed towards the doors to get off. Qian Fei was jostled about. Just as she was about to lose her balance, Li Yifei’s arm wrapped around her, pulling her to a corner of the carriage.
He stood in front of her, enclosing her in the small space between him and the carriage wall, shielding her from the crowded world of people pressed against people behind him.
Qian Fei looked up at Li Yifei, her eyes slightly misty.
Li Yifei raised an eyebrow at her: “Don’t you dare tell me I’m too handsome and you want to offer yourself to me!”
The mistiness in Qian Fei’s eyes instantly cleared.
She spat at him forcefully, then lowered her head.
“You remind me of my ex-boyfriend.”
Li Yifei cursed under his breath.
The two stood face to face, and Qian Fei felt a bit awkward not talking, so she started making small talk.
As they chatted, the topic somehow turned to Hu Zining.
Li Yifei asked her: “Lately, it seems like you haven’t been going out with your current boyfriend?”
Qian Fei said: “We’ve contacted each other a few times. He’s been on business trips. He said he’d come to see me when he’s done with his trips.”
Li Yifei looked at her and suddenly said: “It feels like even the hotel’s chairman isn’t as busy as him.”
Qian Fei said: “What’s wrong with him having big ambitions?”
Li Yifei glanced at her, “Maybe he’s also embracing big girls!”
Qian Fei spat at him: “You think everyone’s like you!”
Li Yifei said: “Find a chance to ask the securities representative which department your boyfriend is in, and why he’s always on business trips!”
Qian Fei was a bit confused: “Young Master Li, why are you so gossipy!”
She suspected that maybe because he had broken up, he started doubting all relationships between men and women.
She thought for a moment and said: “I think, given Hu Zining’s level, the securities representative might not even know who he is. Oh, but you’ve reminded me, should I help expand his reputation among the leadership to pave the way for his future career?”
Li Yifei immediately gave her a definitive answer: “No need.”
Qian Fei asked curiously: “Why not?”