Love Has Fireworks - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Must Study Diligently

The hotel chairman shook Qian Fei's hand and said with a smile, "Talented young people are truly emerging in generations! Even such a young lady can take charge of a side independently to handle a listing! I have no choice but to admit my old age! It seems it really is time for me to be pushed aside!"

Qian Fei had a sudden lapse in her brain, and the usual cheeky banter she used when bickering with Yao Jingjing welled up under the influence of the alcohol. "Chairman Lin, you are far too modest. If I could establish such an incredible hotel under my name in my early thirties when I reach your age, forget about letting me be pushed aside on a beach—I'd be willing to lie down on train tracks!"

The crow's feet on Chairman Lin's face smoothed out row by row as he laughed. "When was I in my early thirties? I'm already over fifty!"

Qian Fei wore a face full of sincerity. "For real? Chairman Lin, if I could look like I'm in my thirties just like you do now when I'm over fifty, then this life will have been completely worth living!"

His face glowing with health and happiness, Chairman Lin departed. Before leaving, he made a special point to ask Qian Fei for her business card.

After Chairman Lin left, Liu Yifeng, the project leader from Qian Fei's company, walked over somewhat unsteadily. Patting her shoulder, he said, "I couldn't tell, Little Qian, you're quite silver-tongued! If I had known earlier, I would have sent you up to the dining table to work your magic. Then Old Yan and I wouldn't have had to drink with Chairman Lin wave after wave like martyrs! Tell me, why is it that everyone who runs a hotel can drink so heavily?" Old Yan was the project team leader from Li Yifei's company.

Qian Fei smiled, and turning around, she spotted Li Yifei and the other colleagues from his company.

Li Yifei curled his lip at her, making an expression resembling a smile. "I didn't expect you to have such a knack for flattering people!"

Just as Qian Fei was about to fire a reply back at him, she noticed that someone seemed to be standing not too far behind him.

She had been drinking, so her vision was a bit blurry. She narrowed her eyes and strained to look closely, finally seeing clearly that the person was none other than Hu Zining.

She had assumed Hu Zining would ignore her; after all, he hadn't paid any attention to her for a whole week. Yet to her surprise, Hu Zining took the initiative to walk over, even greeting her: "Feifei, is it your company that's responsible for helping us list?"

Qian Fei nodded blankly.

His attitude made it seem as though the previous week of cold war didn't exist at all, which left her a bit bewildered.

Hu Zining looked at her with a smile and asked, "How come you didn't tell me? Are these all your colleagues?"

Qian Fei nodded again.

Hu Zining smiled and greeted the others, saying "Hello everyone," before fixing his gaze back on Qian Fei's face. "Feifei, I have to go back to work. Drink more water, wait for me after work, and we'll have dinner together!"

Qian Fei nodded once more, watching Hu Zining walk away with a smile.

Beside her, Liu Yifeng began to tease, "Oh? A boyfriend? No wonder Director Kong insisted on letting you into the team no matter what. So there was this layer of connection! Director Kong truly is a great friend of Matchmaker!"

Qian Fei felt her face burning, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

The group of people all shifted toward the workspace, with Qian Fei walking at the back of the line. Two paces ahead of her, Li Yifei suddenly came to a halt. Blocked by him, she had no choice but to stop as well.

She raised her head and saw Li Yifei looking at her with a strange gaze.

"What's wrong?" she asked in bewilderment. "Is something the matter?"

She saw Li Yifei's brow furrow ever so slightly. That furrow was so imperceptible that she wasn't entirely sure if she had misseen it.

"That guy just now, is he your boyfriend?" he asked suddenly.

Qian Fei was stunned, answering, "Yeah... what about it?"

Li Yifei looked at her, paused for two seconds, and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Nothing, just asking."

At this moment, Li Yifei's colleague called out to him from up ahead. He looked at Qian Fei once more and said, "This is your first time on a project team, right? Drink less in the future. If you encounter this kind of occasion again and someone presses you to drink, just say you can't and switch to beverages. You have no obligation to drink with corporate leaders. If you set this precedent now, you can expect to be drowned in alcohol in the future!"

A wave of warmth hit Qian Fei's heart, and she wanted to say "thank you," but Li Yifei had already turned around and strode far ahead.

Qian Fei had no choice but to take the two words "thank you" that were stuck in her throat and exhale them slowly as a breath of air.

This habit of his, not waiting for people to finish speaking—when on earth would he fix it?

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Before finishing work, Qian Fei sobered up. Hu Zining came to find her for dinner, and they went to a restaurant near the hotel.

Once the food arrived, Hu Zining put food into Qian Fei's bowl while saying, "This past week has been truly too busy. The hotel is preparing to go public, so there's a mountain of work for us to do. That's why I didn't manage to find you!"

When he put it that way, Qian Fei felt that he had smoothed over the previous awkward situation between them quite well. She figured she shouldn't be overly vindictive. Since he had offered a ladder, she might as well step down from the stage.

She smiled. "Tell me about it, we've been incredibly busy too!"

Seeing her smile, Hu Zining's enthusiasm in serving her food shifted from overly attentive to natural.

"I really didn't expect it would be you guys handling our hotel's listing. This is great, we can see each other every single day now!" Hu Zining said with absolute jubilation.

Qian Fei played along, matching his enthusiasm. "Exactly! We can see each other every day!"

Hu Zining reached out to pat her head. "Feifei, you really are so cute!"

Qian Fei forcefully suppressed a shudder.

That mushy streak of his was acting up again, leaving her drifting back and forth between enjoying it and shivering.

Hu Zining said suddenly, "Our Chairman Lin is usually an exceptionally stern person; not a single hotel employee isn't afraid of him! But Feifei, you're truly amazing. I saw you today coaxing him until he was absolutely delighted!"

Qian Fei let out two chuckles. "Not at all, I was just talking nonsense under the influence of the alcohol."

Hu Zining said, "I saw Chairman Lin ask you for your business card. He's probably planning to introduce a guy to you! Feifei, if he looks for you in the future to set you up with someone, just tell him you already have a boyfriend, and that person is me!"

Qian Fei felt a bit dazed. "I think your Chairman Lin just asked for my card on a whim while drinking. Once he sobers up, he'll have forgotten who I am long ago, let alone something as far off as introducing a partner!" She let out two snorts of laughter. "Zining, I think you're overthinking things!"

Hu Zining laughed while putting food into her bowl. "Anyway, if he does look for you, remember to say a few good words on my behalf. Aren't we about to go public? Many positions will undergo corresponding adjustments. If things go well, I might be able to climb up another level and become a mid-level manager!" He set down his chopsticks and reached out to grasp Qian Fei's hand. "Feifei, if I get promoted to mid-level, my salary will also take a big jump. Then I can help you pay off the mortgage together!"

Qian Fei was currently chewing her food, and failing to swallow it properly, she choked for a moment in her throat. She looked at Hu Zining, almost choking to the point of tears welling in her eyes. "Thanks a lot!"

That evening, she called Yao Jingjing, recounting everything that had happened throughout the day like a ledger of accounts before asking Yao Jingjing to offer her opinion.

Yao Jingjing summarized two points in her speech: "Baboon, do you think that Chairman Lin has taken a liking to you? Or Baboon, do you think that Hu Zining has taken a liking to his leader taking a liking to you?"

Qian Fei let out a heavy sigh. "If Hu Zining really only made up with me because he saw his leader asking for my business card, I'd be so heartbroken!"

Yao Jingjing spat out a "bah." "Heartbroken my foot! You talk as if you love him so much!"

Qian Fei said deeply, "Vixen, you don't understand. A person like me, who has been deeply hurt by a man, won't easily fall in love with anyone again. Being able to like someone is already not bad! Besides, although I don't love Hu Zining the person all that much, I deeply love his status as a suitable candidate for marriage! Right now, I have a house, and my job is starting to progress toward a better direction. All I'm missing is a man I can marry!"

Yao Jingjing warned her, "Qian Fei, drop it right there! I'm telling you, if you do something that damages your dignity so much like marrying for the sake of getting married, I will cut ties with you immediately!"

Qian Fei defended herself, "But whenever the night is still and the house is quiet, do you know how lonely, empty, and cold I feel!"

Yao Jingjing let out a "tch." "That's easy to handle. If you want to get married for that reason, it's completely unnecessary! You can completely just buy a few adult toys on Taobao and be a bride every single night! I guarantee you'll be so high on your own that you'll never know what lonely, empty, and cold mean again!"

Furious, Qian Fei spat out a "bah" and hung up the phone.

After putting down the phone, she vaguely heard that an argument seemed to be breaking out next door again.

As Qian Fei listened, somehow she suddenly recalled the times she used to argue with Wang Ruohai.

In the past, their arguments had been just like the ones next door, all over trivial, petty matters, going on endlessly with neither willing to back down. By the end of the argument, it would usually conclude with Wang Ruohai slamming the door and leaving while she sat at home crying, completely identical to the routine of Li Yifei and Gui Lili.

From Gui Lili, she occasionally realized that she herself had indeed been far too dramatic and high-maintenance in the past as well. For instance, even after an issue had passed, she would still drag it out from time to time during future arguments to settle old scores. Or once she started crying, it would go on without end, making people feel vexed just looking at her.

People are just like that sometimes; in the exact same situation, they always have to see it in others before they can discover the mistakes they made at the time. It is also always after a relationship ends that one can see where they did wrong before.

But even if one knows now, what of it? The people and things have changed. One can only tell oneself not to make these mistakes again in the next relationship, not to be so overbearing during arguments, and not to say those harsh words that wound each other.

She threw herself onto the bed, feeling a bit agitated.

Why had she thought of Wang Ruohai again tonight?

When would she be able to completely stop thinking about those past matters with Wang Ruohai?

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Qian Fei had originally thought Li Yifei was just an attractive but empty embroidered pillow, but she hadn't expected him to actually possess quite a bit of ability.

Usually, seeing him eating the best food, wearing the best clothes, and enjoying the best entertainment, his life was lived in an incredibly pampered manner. Even washing a pair of socks felt like an insult to his own elegance and heroic spirit. Logically speaking, a living ancestor of the hedonistic camp like him should have no ability at all, and must have pulled some strings or struck some crazy stroke of luck to get onto the project team. Yet Qian Fei hadn't expected that this pampered living ancestor would be so proficient in the business. He could practically recite regulations and clauses off the top of his head, he knew exactly to what extent the work had progressed and what needed to be done next, and when the hotel's financial statements were brought over, he only scanned them briefly before analyzing several critical issues.

His performance at work left Qian Fei utterly dumbfounded. While marveling, she began to feel a secret sense of inferiority. No wonder he was the one handling the core work of the project, while she only had the share of organizing working papers.

After comparing herself to him, Qian Fei finally understood that emotion in the mortal world known as "being driven mad by envy." She began to memorize regulations over and over again, began to review her Certified Public Accountant courses, and began to read financial books in large quantities. She felt that her level of studiousness was practically about to defy the natural order. Even before her university final exams, she had never seen herself study properly with such proactive, high-conscious initiative.

When Yao Jingjing was speaking with her over the phone, she asked her, "Who triggered you like this? Didn't we burn our books on graduation day and swear never to study again, and whoever works themselves to death studying is a coward?"