Love Has Fireworks - Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Must Get the Tickets

December 27th, Thursday

When they got off work in the evening, Li Yifei said to Qian Fei, "I'm going out to have fun tonight, so I won't be coming home for dinner."

Qian Fei indicated that she understood. Not a single trace of an expression like "eating alone is so lonely" was revealed on her face; instead, a kind of joy that said "great, I can finally freely do whatever I want" overflowed across her features.

Li Yifei felt extremely displeased that his status was still so completely unimportant after such a long time, especially since even after he lowered his social standing to regard her as a brother, she could still remain so utterly indifferent to his absence at dinner. He decided that he had to find a time to educate this numb and unfeeling fellow on what it meant to have deep brotherly affection.

In the evening, he met up with Jin Tian to have dinner together.

It also happened to be a coincidence that just as they finished eating, Da Jun called, asking him to go hit the bars together.

He originally had a habit where, when gathering with his buddies, he didn't like to bring a girlfriend along, feeling that talking and casually bantering would all be very inconvenient. However, considering that Jin Tian was introduced to him by Da Jun and everyone knew each other, he brought her along as well.

Once they arrived at the bar, he spoke with Da Jun about a business collaboration to make money. For a moment, he became a bit too invested and actually forgot about Jin Tian.

By the time he remembered, his other buddies told him that Jin Tian had already taken a taxi back on her own.

"She told you several times that she wanted to leave, but you just kept saying 'wait a bit, wait a bit,' so she went ahead and left by herself first."

Li Yifei asked Da Jun, "Did she ask me?"

Da Jun nodded. "It seems she did ask."

Li Yifei let out an "oh." "Fine then, if she went back, she went back. It just saves me from sending her."

Da Jun said, "I reckon she might be unhappy. If it were me, I'd feel wronged too."

Li Yifei let out an "un." "Then let her be unhappy; she can come find me again when she's happy. I'm not in the habit of indulging a woman's growing temper."

Da Jun let out a "damn." "Would it kill you to coax her a little!"

Li Yifei snorted coldly. "Am I the kind of man who coaxes women?"

Da Jun waved his hand. "Fine! I've gone and given you another chance to posture! Alright, if she wants to leave, let her leave. The two of us can properly drink for a while!"

Li Yifei raised his wrist to look at his watch, thought about it, and said, "Anyway, now that we're done discussing business, I'm heading back. We can drink some other day."

Da Jun's chin dropped down as he pulled a shocked expression. "I say, Li Yifei, are you turning over a new leaf? It's only ten o'clock and you're already going home? The nightlife has only just begun, okay!"

Li Yifei stood up and said, "This father has to work tomorrow. Unconvinced, are you? How about I call you tomorrow morning right when I get out of bed?"

Da Jun called him a "jerk" with profound emotion.

●︶3︶●

On the way back, Li Yifei inadvertently recalled that jubilant, secretly pleased expression Qian Fei had right before getting off work, and he began to ponder what exact secret was hidden behind that look.

Arriving home and opening the door, he saw Qian Fei squatting right in the dead center of the living room, facing the television, staring unblinkingly at the channel whose logo looked distinctively like a toilet.

She was too focused—so focused that she completely ignored his entry into the room.

He changed his shoes, walked up to her, nudged her with his foot, and asked, "What are you doing? Why are you squatting here like you're using the toilet?"

Qian Fei twisted around, raised her head, and glared at him.

"Don't cause trouble, it's almost time for Da Peng to sing! I've been waiting all evening!"

Li Yifei cast his gaze toward the television. So that jubilant, secretly pleased face of hers in the evening was just to wait and watch this?

"What is this playing?" he asked.

Qian Fei answered impatiently, "Your Face Sounds Familiar! You uncultured fellow, can anyone expect you to know anything? Don't disrupt me, ah, Da Peng is about to sing right away!"

Li Yifei stood beside her without moving.

He decided to see exactly what that Da Peng—who had her completely infatuated and disoriented—looked like.

The music gradually picked up, and the tune turned out to be "Glorious Years," a song he liked.

He felt this was a bit interesting.

The songs of BEYOND were the favorites of every boy who had gone through adolescence. At seventeen or eighteen years old, who didn't love to stand in the hallway during class breaks and bellow out a few verses?

Wanting to sing such a song—which practically everyone knew how to sing and frequently covered or imitated—in a way that people would accept and buy into was by no means an easy task.

He thought this way, but when the first line of the lyrics was sung out from the mouth of that man who appeared in BEYOND's styling while holding a guitar, he experienced a small shock.

It was too similar! Not just the timbre of the voice, but also the emotion within it.

That man sang with deep emotion inside the television, while he stood outside the television, quietly listening along with that woman squatting on the floor. The singing shocked both of them at the same time.

He recalled the scenes of past days when he and those ruinous buddies of his used to bellow this song outside the classroom. Within this man's singing, he felt as if he touched his own once-past youth.

Once the song finished playing, he didn't move for a long time.

He began to somewhat understand why the idiot squatting on the floor liked this man named Da Peng so much.

On his body, there really was a kind of thing that could infect people; that thing was perhaps precisely what was called "inspirational."

●︶3︶●

When Da Peng was announced as the seasonal champion, Qian Fei cried a complete mess.

While handing her facial tissues, Li Yifei asked with a headache, "Big sister, I say, it's not to this extent for you, right? I didn't even see you cry like this when you went through a breakup! Tsk! You're actually making boo-hoo sounds!"

Qian Fei sobbed, "You don't understand! This... this is called weeping with joy!"

Li Yifei murmured, "I really don't understand! I only see a fanatic!"

Qian Fei sighed, "Sigh!"

Li Yifei asked with an even greater headache, "What's wrong with you again, ah?"

Qian Fei said with incomparable sorrow, "At the end of this month, Da Peng has a talk show performance at the National Theatre of China. I especially want to go, but I couldn't snatch a ticket!"

Li Yifei let out a "tsk." "I thought it was some massive deal; isn't it just a single ticket? Wait for me to get it done for you!"

Qian Fei slanted a gaze at him. "With what are you going to get it done, ah? The tickets sold out long ago! Do you think the theatre is opened by your family!"

Li Yifei's face was full of indignation. "Looking down on me, are you? Do you believe it or not that I really can get it done?"

Qian Fei didn't even think about it. "Just keep bragging!"

Li Yifei said, "You don't believe it, right? I'll leave these words right here for you: not only will I get it done for you, I'll even let you sit in the absolute front, in the most expensive seats!"

Qian Fei's stance was firm: "Don't believe it!"

Li Yifei was like a fighting cock spreading its wings. "What if this young master really can get it done?"

Qian Fei slapped the table. "If you really can get it done, I'll change my surname!"

●︶3︶●

December 28th, Friday.

During the lunch break, Li Yifei called Da Jun.

"Those fair-weather friends of ours who we played with from childhood to adulthood—has it been a while since we last met? Why don't you organize it and pull off a party tonight! Tell everyone not to be late and not to be absent, otherwise Brother Fei's hand will shake and let their childhood naked photos warm up the human world!" He simply delivered his commands.

"What's the situation?" Da Jun asked fuzzily.

"To put it simply, I just missed the brothers!" Li Yifei said earnestly.

"Bah! With that conduct of yours, who knows what business you have again!" Da Jun paused, then said, "Can we set it for Sunday? Everyone can just spend the New Year together; tonight is too rushed!"

Li Yifei said, "No, it must be tonight. I miss everyone too much to wait until the day after tomorrow!"

Da Jun hurled a national curse and asked, "Then who should we say organized the gathering?"

Li Yifei said, "Me."

Da Jun asked, "Who pays the bill?"

Li Yifei said, "You."

Da Jun couldn't resist throwing out another national curse, saying, "Fck, if I organize this gathering for you, I am the number one biggest jerk in the Imperial Capital!"

Thus, when evening arrived, Da Jun received a new title as he wished: the number one relationship jerk of the Imperial Capital.

A group of fair-weather friends who grew up together since childhood gathered together. They all looked human and proper, quite like social elites, yet when joking around, every single one of their mouths was as vulgar as a foul rogue.

Those people all asked, "What's the theme of today's party? Why gather so urgently? Also, Big Fei, do you plan to use those childhood photos to threaten us for a lifetime?"

Li Yifei nodded with a smile. Da Jun pointed at him and said, "This scourge is the one who made me organize the gathering. Whatever business there is, you all ask him!"

Everyone then focused their gazes onto Li Yifei.

Li Yifei flipped his eyelids, saying with a sanctimonious face, "It's been a long time since we gathered. Don't you all miss each other?"

Someone let out a "get lost" sound. "Beat it, Big Fei! Every single time you organize a gathering, it's guaranteed that there is some business to torment us with!"

 

Li Yifei slapped his shoulder. "We are all brothers who grew up in the same kindergarten, our lifelong affection is as deep as the sea—don't care about these small details!"

He gathered everyone together and said, "It's like this: a friend of mine likes a star celebrity and wants to watch his talk show performance. On December 30th—which is the day after tomorrow—at the National Theatre of China, but they couldn't snatch a ticket. I just want to ask you guys if anyone can find a way to scrounge up two VIP tickets for me?"

Everyone listened until they were completely dazed.

Da Jun was especially uncomprehending. "Damn, you corralled all of us handsome flower boys and noble young masters of the capital together just for this tiny bit of fart business? Don't you feel that everyone is being a bit too greatly wasted for minor talents?"

Li Yifei smiled modestly. "More people means things are secure!"

Someone by the side asked a line: "Which star celebrity is it anyway?"

Li Yifei said, "He's called Dong Chengpeng, the guy who acts in that Diors Man thing."

The handsome flower boys and noble young masters went silent for two seconds, collectively shaking their heads.

"Damn, what kind of person is that? I haven't really heard of him, is he even a star?" Da Jun asked the voice of everyone's hearts.

Li Yifei kicked him. "Don't casually insult other people's idols!"

Da Jun was startled. "Whose idol? Yours? No way! Isn't your idol Yui Hatano!"

Li Yifei kicked him another time, kicking Da Jun until he squealed and cried out.

Da Jun's eyeballs rolled around as he asked, "I say, you selling so much strength to handle this tiny bit of fart business for a certain person—this person wouldn't happen to be Jin Tian, right? But her taste doesn't look this low-class!"

Li Yifei kicked him yet another time. "Haven't had enough of being kicked, have you? Liking Da Peng means one's taste is low-class? He is an inspirational male god right now, okay!" For some reason, he also particularly disliked hearing other people say bad things about Da Peng now.

While rubbing his buttocks, Da Jun looked at him with blood and vital energy surging, shaking his head with a long sigh. "Child, you have changed! You've become more and more like a Holy Father!"

Li Yifei threw a white eye at him, ignored him, and turned his head to say to everyone: "Anyway, it's just this matter, everyone keep it in mind, ah! Whether it's buying it from someone else at a high price, snatching it from people you don't know, or starting from the organizers' side—anyway, if no one can get this matter settled before tomorrow evening, I will package your childhood bare-bottomed photos and post them on Weibo!"

Representing everyone, Da Jun indicated that his teeth were itching with rage. "Big Fei, can you not insult us? Using our private photos to threaten us for this tiny bit of fart business—do you know this is a type of humiliation to our bodies!"

Li Yifei looked at him with a serious face. "But I feel that this matter is quite big!"

This involved the issue of whether or not he would lose face in front of a dead girl; moreover, they still had a wager about changing her surname.

●︶3︶●

December 29th, Saturday.

During the daytime, Li Yifei went out after receiving a phone call.

Qian Fei vaguely heard that it was a girl calling. She guessed that Li Yifei had made another new girlfriend.

When evening arrived, while Qian Fei was watching Happy Camp, Li Yifei came back.

While changing his shoes at the entrance, he criticized Qian Fei: "Can this television only receive a single channel? You practically grow into that toilet logo every day! Can you have a bit of pursuit and watch the Xinwen Lianbo nightly news when there's nothing else to do!"

Qian Fei stared at the television without even glancing at him. "You say it as if you watch the Xinwen Lianbo news yourself!"

Li Yifei changed into slippers and walked up to her, pulling two card-like objects out of his pocket and slapping them down onto the coffee table in front of her. The movement was so handsome it looked as if he had just slapped down a stack of US dollars.

Qian Fei moved her eyes, which had almost grown onto the television, away. "What is it?" she asked while picking up the card-like objects.

When she lowered her head and clearly saw what she was holding in her hands, Qian Fei screamed.

"Ah, ah! Ah, ah! Ah, ah! How did you get the tickets! It really is the absolute front row!"

Seeing her hopping up with joy, Li Yifei raised the corners of his mouth.

"Don't you plan to organize your language to praise the person in front of you?" He toyed with his hair in a swaggering manner.

Qian Fei was truly so happy she forgot herself, tip-toeing to give him a hug.

However, she let go very quickly.

She kissed the tickets forcefully, making "mwah mwah" sounds as she said, "Big brother! You are too powerful! Sister truly hasn't doted on you in vain! Wait until tomorrow when I go to the food market to wholesale a gunny sack of eggplants back; I'll make you stir-fried eggplant strips with meat every single day!"

Li Yifei's gaze drifted slightly toward Qian Fei's chest.

That hug that this dead girl gave him just now made him realize one thing.

She actually wasn't wearing an undergarment.

Furthermore, this masculine woman actually possessed a bit of a chest!

Li Yifei cleared his throat, pulling one ticket back out of Qian Fei's hand.

Qian Fei blanked for a moment. "Why do you want one back?"

Li Yifei raised a brow. "Did you think both were given to you? You are too greedy! Do you know how hard these tickets were to get!"

Qian Fei frowned. "Then am I to go watch by myself? Why don't you just give me that one too, then I can find a companion to go together!"

Li Yifei let out a cold laugh. "Give them all to you, and I don't get to watch?"

Qian Fei asked in surprise, "You want to go too? Didn't you dislike Da Peng and not even know who he was?"

Li Yifei murmured, "For the sake of the tickets, I decided to like him, is that not allowed?"

Qian Fei was in a good mood and didn't bicker with him, saying to him with a smile, "Then we'll go watch together! By the way, how much did the tickets cost?"

Li Yifei said in a posturing manner, "Don't mention money with this young master, how vulgar! Just count it as a New Year's gift this young master is giving you!"

Qian Fei frowned. "This isn't good, right?" She indicated that she absolutely must give him the money.

Li Yifei grew impatient, snapping out: "These tickets were given for free because my buddy topped up his phone credit, is that fine!"

Gazing at him, Qian Fei sighed from the bottom of her heart: "Topping up phone credit in this manner, I feel your buddy isn't far from being radiated into a complete blockhead!"

●︶3︶●

When Da Jun brought the tickets to Li Yifei, he said, "These are tickets that Gangzi spent quite a bit of effort on, spending twice the market price to get them from his sister-in-law's colleague's sister's classmate! That girl and her boyfriend actually cried when they took the money and sold the tickets!"

Li Yifei asked, "They couldn't bear to part with them?"

Da Jun said, "No, it was excitement. They said they never imagined their idol would already be worth this price on the black market now, they are truly happy for him!"

Li Yifei almost rolled his eyes.

He pulled out his wallet to draw Renminbi bills for Da Jun. "Help me bring this to Gangzi, tell him I'll properly thank him later."

"Forget it, you're already so poor you are renting a room with someone, I'd better just advance this money for you." Da Jun didn't want it.

Li Yifei insisted, "One thing is one thing! When I ought to pit you, I will definitely pit you, but I must pay this money myself."

Da Jun let out a "damn." "What kind of state have you mixed yourself into, yet you are still being poorly generous! You spending money so silently and taking so much effort to buy high-priced tickets—does your landlord know?"

Li Yifei answered subconsciously, "What would I let her know for!"

There was a second of silence between the two men. Then, two voices rang out simultaneously.

"How did you know it was her?"

"Damn, it really is her!"

Da Jun shook his head. "Inconceivable, truly inconceivable, for you to be this attentive toward a masculine woman! I feel you've put in more effort on her than on Jin Tian!"

Li Yifei raised a brow and said, "I have always treated buddies better than women, you know that."

Da Jun scratched his face and asked, "I really feel you keep her quite in mind. You haven't taken a fancy to her, have you?"

Li Yifei threw a white eye at him. "Don't always scratch your face when nothing is wrong, looking like a clown invited by a monkey!" Then he thought about it and said, "Now that you mention it, I find that I do seem to keep her quite in mind. But me keeping her in mind is just like keeping you in mind—it's all keeping a brother in mind!"