Love Has Fireworks - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Stumbling Upon an Affair

The next day at work, Li Yifei arrived very late. His expression was terrible, and his demeanor was so gloomy that frost could nearly form within a three-foot radius around him.

Qian Fei couldn't resist leaning toward him to offer a few quiet words of advice.

"You didn't sleep well last night, did you? You're pretty worried, right? Sigh, think about it—how unsafe is it for a girl to spend the night out? You are a man after all, so just tolerate her a bit more, yield to her a little, and save yourself from feeling this miserable, right?"

She meant well, but who could have known her words would earn nothing but a face full of disgust and impatience from Li Yifei. "Qian Fei, can we maintain some distance? Aside from being landlord and tenant, or colleagues, we aren't exactly close, are we? Could you please stop poking your nose into other people's business?" He looked at Qian Fei, as if he had already reached the absolute limit of his tolerance with something, and said with a mocking tone, "Do you think that boyfriend of yours is any better? You really have quite a sense of superiority to go around worrying about other people!"

His words left Qian Fei absolutely furious. If there weren't so many people around, she really wanted to plant a slap right across Li Yifei's vicious mouth, hitting him until his face turned as red as autumn lotuses under the sun, just to let him know the consequences of having a loose tongue.

From the side, Zhao De sensed that the atmosphere between them wasn't right, so he walked over and asked probingly, "Oh? What's going on here? Yifei, you didn't bully our house's Fei Fei, did you? Fei Fei, what's wrong? Why is your face looking so awful?"

Qian Fei gritted her teeth, forcing a sliver of a smile toward Zhao De. "It's nothing. It's just a classic case of the kind soul getting bitten by the ungrateful dog he tried to help!"

After saying this, completely ignoring Zhao De's thoroughly bewildered expression that practically screamed for answers, she marched right back to her own seat.

After finishing lunch, the three of them surprisingly didn't set up their usual table for Fight the Landlord.

The moment he finished eating, Li Yifei sat in front of his computer, putting on his headphones to play Counter-Strike, taking out his aggression by slaughtering enemies with guns and knives as if venting a grudge.

Zhao De leaned over to Qian Fei and asked her, "Which one of you actually provoked the other this time?"

Qian Fei let out a soft huff. "What do you think? With a pure, upstanding, Lei Feng-style model youth like me, do I look like someone who would cause trouble?" She cast a sidelong glance at Li Yifei before curling her lip toward Zhao De. "I mean, this young master's temper is just too much, isn't it? As a woman, my anger has already faded, yet he's still sitting there throwing a tantrum. On what grounds?!"

Zhao De chimed in from the side, supporting her, "Exactly! On what grounds! He's still living in your apartment after all!"

Hearing this remark was like an absolute epiphany for Qian Fei. She instantly regained her spirit, slamming the table and stamping her feet. "Yes! Exactly! How could I have missed that! This Li Yifei is still living in my apartment, so on what grounds does he have to throw a tantrum at me! Believe it or not, I can kick him out!"

Zhao De also slammed the table, backing her up with vigor, "Exactly, exactly!"

Just as the two of them were clamoring at the height of their excitement, Li Yifei took off his headphones beside them.

In the midst of her blood-boiling denunciation, Qian Fei felt as though Li Yifei was looking at her.

She turned her head to steal a glance, and sure enough, Li Yifei was staring right at her. His expression was so solemn it looked like he was attending a funeral.

Qian Fei turned her face to look him straight in the eye. "What are you looking at? Haven't seen a landlord display her power before?!"

Li Yifei kept his dark face fixed on her, staring so intensely that Qian Fei nearly grew hairs on her back. After a good long while, he finally opened his mouth: "Qian Fei, what I said this morning wasn't entirely spoken in anger. I hope you can give it a good think." Once he finished speaking, he put his headphones back on.

Qian Fei was left completely dumbfounded by his words, rooting herself to the spot like a pillar.

What did he say this morning? It seemed to be—

—Do you think that boyfriend of yours is any better? You really have quite a sense of superiority to go around worrying about other people!

But what did this have to do with Hu Zining? He didn't even know him.

Qian Fei turned her head to ask Zhao De, "What does he mean?"

Zhao De shook his head with a blank stare. "No idea. Maybe he has a secret crush on you!"

Qian Fei nearly choked on her lunch, almost spraying it all over Zhao De's face.

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A person like Qian Fei could only remember the good things people did for her from childhood to adulthood. With a grateful heart, she would remember a kindness for an entire lifetime. On the other hand, if someone spoke harshly to her or threw a tantrum, even if she was so furious at the time that she pointed at the sky and earth declaring a total severance of ties, she would always forget it entirely within two days once she turned around. Especially if someone gave her some good food or treated her to a meal, she could practically achieve total amnesia, completely unable to recall any of the previous unpleasantness. Yao Jingjing had once commented on her human nature with tears in her eyes: she remembers the treats but never the beats.

Therefore, when Li Yifei tossed a package of dried mangoes toward Qian Fei with a completely expressionless face two days later at work, Qian Fei instantly suffered amnesia again, completely erasing all the previous unpleasantness between the two of them.

Chewing on the dried mangoes, Qian Fei wished she could use the most tolerant heart and the most universal embrace to save all the darkness and sin in the world.

As she ate, she asked Li Yifei indistinctly, "Where did you get these dried mangoes?"

Without lifting his head or opening his eyes, Li Yifei's face remained so utterly paralyzed it looked like a failed plastic surgery. "Picked them up."

Qian Fei froze there with her mouth wide open like an idiot, holding the half-chewed dried mango in her mouth, completely unsure whether she should swallow it or spit it right back onto Li Yifei's face.

Li Yifei raised his head to glance at her. Seemingly amused by her deflated expression, he actually swept away his paralyzed state of the past few days. The corners of his mouth relaxed, hooking upward slightly. "It won't poison you to death, what are you afraid of!" Pausing for a moment, he finally showed some kindness by telling Qian Fei the truth, "Brought them back from a bar."

Qian Fei felt relieved. On second thought, she remembered he came home very late last night; it turned out he had gone to a bar to drown his sorrows in drink.

With food in her, she couldn't restrain the sudden radiance of her inner saint. She felt that although this child Li Yifei was forcing himself to come to work right now, just how much bitter pain must he be harboring deep down in his heart!

When Li Yifei looked up again, he saw Qian Fei staring at him with eyes full of pure sympathy and tender affection. His hand gave a shake, dropping the mouse as he barked at Qian Fei, "Damn it! What kind of look is that? Disgusting or what! Forget it, give me back the dried mangoes!"

Qian Fei turned her head to stuff the dried mangoes into her jacket pocket, starting her work. "To ask for something back after giving it away, you really have the nerve!"

Just like that, the two of them made up.

During their midday game of Fight the Landlord, Li Yifei said while playing his cards, "I didn't expect you to be someone who holds no grudges."

Looking at the remaining good cards in her hand, Qian Fei couldn't hold back her absolute elation: "What kind of thing is a grudge? This person right here only remembers food and money! Haha, Li Yifei, look at how I'll make you lose this round until you cry out for your parents!"

Zhao De nudged her from the side with a face full of sympathy, "Fei Fei! In the time you spent gloating and talking, Li Yifei has already finished playing his cards, okay!" He let out a theatrical sigh. "With this IQ of yours, you really can only eat some snacks and lose some money for entertainment when nothing else is going on!"

Qian Fei froze, looking toward Li Yifei as she denounced him angrily, "Shameless! You intentionally spoke to me to distract me, you really use every trick in the book!"

Li Yifei didn't even look at her. "I am teaching you a life philosophy: waking up early doesn't necessarily mean you'll be healthy, and catching two Jokers doesn't guarantee a solid win without a loss, understand?"

Just as Qian Fei was about to criticize his shameless, distorted logic, Li Yifei's phone rang.

She watched as Li Yifei's expression instantly shifted. She guessed the call must be from Gui Lili.

Li Yifei walked out to answer the phone.

Zhao De said he was going to the restroom.

She sat in her seat, shuffling the cards over and over again out of sheer boredom.

After a while, Zhao De returned first, telling Qian Fei with a face full of excitement, "Oh mama, Fei Fei! I heard Yifei arguing with his girlfriend in the restroom! He told his girlfriend: 'Whether you want to come back or not is entirely up to you. You ran out on your own accord, so do I still need to drop to my knees three times, bow nine times, and use an eight-man sedan chair to beg you to return? Gui Lili, are you brain-dead? You're using your boss to provoke me? He's waiting for you, is he? Telling me not to regret it, right? Then go with him! I'm telling you, Gui Lili, don't you dare use this to provoke me. Go find whoever you think is good, I truly don't care to stop you!'"

Once Zhao De finished speaking, he looked at Qian Fei with a face full of gossip.

Qian Fei praised, "This linguistic talent of yours is absolutely unmatched! You remember useless matters so clearly!" She then asked, "What happened next?"

Zhao De blinked his eyes repeatedly. "Then I came out, of course! I couldn't exactly stay inside the restroom forever! Even though I wanted to listen to more, I couldn't let people mistake me for having a bad prostate!"

Qian Fei supported her forehead with her hand. "You truly have never regarded me as a woman, Zhao De! You say absolutely anything!"

Zhao De immediately pulled in an accomplice, "It was Yifei who subtly influenced me. He said that among all the women he has ever met, you can absolutely be called a true gentleman!"

Originally, Qian Fei had intended to comfort Li Yifei's heartbroken soul later by losing a few rounds on purpose, but upon hearing these words, she became furious.

"That shameless bastard! Serves him right to argue with his girlfriend!"

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Over the next few days, during their daily games of Fight the Landlord, Qian Fei racked her brains to tell jokes, attempting to shorten the length of Li Yifei's long, pulled face.

Zhao De frequently laughed so hard on the side that he nearly spat out his food. While slapping his thigh, pounding his chest, and wiping away the drool brought on by laughter, he would say, "Qian Fei, you really are a pure alpha male."

At first, Li Yifei kept a straight face, but later he couldn't hold it anymore. After listening to the jokes, he couldn't resist curling the corners of his mouth. It was just that at all other times, he still insisted on maintaining a long face. Every time Qian Fei looked at him, she felt that the negative energy value surrounding his body was skyrocketing at a breakneck speed.

When the weekend arrived, Gui Lili still had not returned home, and Li Yifei likewise continued to pull a long face every day. Qian Fei was so affected by the low atmospheric pressure at home that she began to display symptoms like chest tightness, shortness of breath, and a lack of calcium.

Her attempts to persuade Li Yifei to go out for a walk yielded no results. She could only go out for a walk by herself.

Exiting the residential estate, she strolled aimlessly all the way to Viva Plaza. Thinking that since she was free anyway, she might as well head up to take a look around. In any case, she had only brought a little over two hundred yuan in change and no cards, so she wasn't afraid of falling into a dilemma over whether to buy something if she truly took a fancy to it.

She lifted her foot and stepped into the shopping mall.

She strolled floor by floor, pounding her chest and sighing with emotion as she walked.

The clothes were truly beautiful, the shoes were truly dazzling, and the price tags were also truly not meant for ordinary folk. She really wondered why other people could just buy whatever they wanted, carrying several bags effortlessly in their hands without a single expression of heartache or regret over spending too much money on their faces.

She didn't understand why, as people also living in the city of Beijing, the quality of life could differ by such an immense margin. Where did all their money come from? Thinking about the office tower where her company was located, they all worked inside the exact same building, so on what grounds was she eating a fifteen-yuan Lihua fast food meal at noon while hearing people from the neighboring company clamoring to go to the Liufu Shark Fin Restaurant under the Tongtai Mansion to drink a bowl of sea cucumber porridge worth over two hundred yuan. Just how did those wealthy people earn all their money?

In Qian Fei's view, these questions were practically more unfathomable than the Goldbach Conjecture.

Her footsteps appeared increasingly shabby and heavy against the backdrop of other people's effortless card-swiping consumption. Listlessly stepping onto the escalator, she unconsciously reached the third floor.

Walking along, she raised her head and felt that she truly was looking for trouble for no reason, having actually wandered into the Love All Over the City Diamond Mall.

She remembered a time when she came to browse Viva Plaza with Yao Jingjing, also coming up to the third floor and seeing Love All Over the City. Yao Jingjing had told her: "There are no more than two turning points for a woman to come to this place: either a poor man loves her so much that he's willing to sell his blood and kidneys to exchange for some money to buy her a diamond ring and propose; or a wealthy man wants to sleep with her, throwing a card at her and telling her to buy whatever she likes."

Yao Jingjing had asked her: "If it were you, which of these two kinds of men would you choose?"

Qian Fei remembered her own reply at the time: "I wouldn't choose either. Those diamond things can only be looked at but can't be eaten, what's so good about them!"

Yao Jingjing had mocked her: "Sigh, actually it was completely redundant of me to ask you! Wang Ruohai would never sell his blood or kidneys to buy you a diamond ring! As for a wealthy man, unless he's blind, why would he pass up so many little vixen spirits to sleep with you instead!"

Refusing to accept this, she had asked: "What's wrong with me? Back in university, weren't there plenty of people chasing me?!"

Yao Jingjing had just looked at her with a beaming smile and said: "But you've already withered away into old age while enduring with Wang Ruohai, you silly child!"

She suddenly felt a bit sad. It had been a very long time since she last thought of Wang Ruohai. What was wrong with her today? Had she been subtly stimulated by the arguments between Li Yifei and Gui Lili?

She suddenly felt particularly depressed, no longer wishing to continue browsing. She wanted to return home immediately and lie down under her blanket to comfort her sorrowful little sentiments.

She changed direction and walked toward the down escalator.

The peripheral vision of her eyes inadvertently stole a glance to the side, spotting two people emerging from Love All Over the City.

It appeared to be a man and a woman arm-in-arm.

Qian Fei continued walking forward.

Suddenly, her heart gave a violent thud!

Turning her head back sharply, she saw that among the two people emerging from Love All Over the City, that woman was indeed Gui Lili, without a doubt.