Love Has Fireworks - Chapter 49

Chapter 49: What Are You Looking for Me For?

Qian Fei coughed and said to the classmate who had leaned over to gossip, "Counting the days, I reckon he’s about to marry his company vice president's niece soon anyway!"

The classmate looked at her with a face full of surprise. "You don't know yet? Oh right, you arrived late so you didn't hear. When the class monitor asked him when we’d get to drink a wedding toast to him and his new girlfriend, he said they broke up back during the Lunar New Year!" Another classmate chimed in, "I heard it was because that girl had a terrible temper and had an awful attitude toward Wang Ruohai's mother during the New Year!"

Qian Fei was dazed for a moment. Just then, the class monitor walked over with a notebook in his hand and said, "Everyone, please write down your contact information. A lot of classmates have changed their phone numbers. Once I've compiled everything, I'll standardize it into a contact directory and send it to everyone!"

The class monitor handed the notebook to Qian Fei for her to write her phone number. Qian Fei took the notebook and glanced at it; the number right above, which had just been written, belonged to Wang Ruohai.

She curled her lip and pushed the notebook back to the class monitor. "I'll write after everyone else is finished!"

The class monitor smiled and said, "My, you're still quite bothered by it!"

Just as he was about to take the notebook to find someone else to sign, Qian Fei suddenly remembered something and swiftly snatched the notebook back.

She stared at Wang Ruohai's phone number on it. The more she looked at it, the more familiar it seemed.

The class monitor was left bewildered by her actions and asked what was wrong. She shoved the notebook back into his arms, said, "It's nothing!" and walked over to a corner to flip through her phone.

Strangely enough, no matter how she searched, she couldn't find that text message from her birthday.

Returning to the home screen, a sudden flash of inspiration struck her, and she went to check the blacklist inside her security app.

And there, she saw that "Happy Birthday" text message.

The number was exactly the same as the one written next to the name Wang Ruohai in the notebook.

She let out a silent laugh, thinking it truly was fate—even her phone couldn't stand Wang Ruohai and had automatically intercepted him into the blacklist.

Just as she was about to turn off her phone screen, a person's voice suddenly came from right beside her ear: "Why did you put me on your blacklist?"

Qian Fei looked up. Wang Ruohai was already standing right in front of her at some unknown point.

●︶3︶●

Qian Fei clicked her screen off, looked at Wang Ruohai, and said with a sneer, "Didn't you blacklist me too?" Recalling how her attempts to call him back that day had consistently resulted in an out-of-service notification, she instantly figured out the whole sequence of events. "Wang Ruohai, you're quite an interesting person. Pulling this kind of stunt after we've broken up. I thank you for still remembering my birthday, okay! But why did you blacklist me right after sending the text? Were you afraid that once I found out it was you, I’d think you still cared, and then I’d relentlessly pester you with lingering affection?" She looked at Wang Ruohai, curling her lip with a face full of mockery. "Aren't you thinking a bit too highly of how much people yearn for you!"

Wang Ruohai looked at her. Although he was being mocked by her, a hint of confusion surfaced in the depths of his eyes. "Qian Fei, you seem to have become a bit different!"

She used to speak to him like a tomboy in the past, but now, a subtle, indescribable charm lingered around the corners of her eyes and brows. In a short span of less than a year, who was it that caused her to undergo such a change, making her carry the distinct grace of a woman?

Qian Fei glanced at him, not wanting to speak to him any further, and turned around to leave.

Wang Ruohai suddenly grabbed her, however. "Qian Fei, let's make a deal..."

Before he could even finish his sentence, Qian Fei glared fiercely at him and snapped in a low voice, "Let go!"

Wang Ruohai's palm went slightly numb from her harsh tone.

He released his grip, looked at Qian Fei, and said, "Alright, I'm letting go! Qian Fei, let's make a deal to take each other off the blacklist, okay?"

Qian Fei looked at him with a mocking smile. "You haven't had too much to drink, have you? Is there any need for that?"

Wang Ruohai smiled. "I'm driving, I didn't drink!"

She rolled her eyes at him, turned around, and walked away.

After finishing the registration of their contact info, everyone clamored to go sing karaoke. Qian Fei wanted to leave, but the class monitor held onto her tightly, refusing to let her go.

"Yao Jingjing not coming is already a massive loss. If you leave too, the atmosphere will completely freeze over!" He forcefully dragged and pulled Qian Fei along to Cashbox Karaoke.

When opening the private room, it was Wang Ruohai who picked up the tab again.

The class monitor couldn't resist whispering to Qian Fei from the side, "Look at Dahai's poise and generosity now, he’s practically a completely different person compared to before!"

Qian Fei let out a scoffing sound and curled her lip.

Although she was very disdainful, she also felt that Wang Ruohai had indeed changed somewhere; he didn't seem as superficial as before and had become quite a bit more grounded.

It appeared that the renminbi still carried a certain weight, capable of allowing an ordinary guy to settle down into a successful professional.

Sitting on the sofa, Qian Fei felt very uncomfortable. While their classmates sang, Wang Ruohai sat not far from her, still sweeping his gaze over her without any concealment. The class monitor pulled her over and, without her knowing if it was intentional, endlessly rattled on about how good and capable Wang Ruohai had become, calling it truly moving, deeply affecting, and worthy of gratitude. He claimed Wang Ruohai had done everything that he, as the class monitor, was supposed to do.

After listening for a while, Qian Fei really couldn't take it anymore. Unable to endure further, she asked, "Did Wang Ruohai promise to cover the bill for karaoke just so you would say good things about him to me?"

She was actually just speaking randomly out of irritation. As a result, the class monitor's eyes went wide, and he rubbed his face with a drunken expression. "Am I making it that obvious? You even saw through that? Oh man, it looks like I’ve really had too much to drink. When I get home, my wife is definitely going to kill me!"

Qian Fei didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Monitor, why don't you stop worrying about this useless matter, okay? When he and I broke up, it was final. He was even the one who brought up the breakup back then. There is absolutely no way we could ever get back together!"

She stood up, put on her coat properly, walked over to stand in front of Wang Ruohai, and looked down at him from above. "Come out for a moment!"

Wang Ruohai nimbly stood up and followed her out of the private room.

Once Qian Fei stopped her steps, she stared at Wang Ruohai and asked syllable by syllable, "Wang Ruohai, what exactly do you want to do?"

Wang Ruohai met her gaze, not dodging her knife-like eyes at all. "I can't quite explain it clearly either. Anyway, seeing you today, I just can't seem to pull my eyes away!"

Qian Fei let out a mocking laugh. "And then what? Do you want to patch things up with me?"

Wang Ruohai actually nodded. "I do have that kind of thought!"

Qian Fei asked in a cold voice, "When did this idea spring up? Surely it wasn't back around my birthday, right? Back then, your honorable self was so terrified of me pestering you that you even blacklisted me!"

Wang Ruohai was honest instead, answering with a completely open demeanor, "Actually, I was hesitating the entire time between the Lunar New Year and your birthday. But the moment you walked through the door tonight, I made up my mind!" He looked at Qian Fei, speaking without blinking once, "You really have become different. Not just externally, but even internally, you're no longer vulgar and small-minded like before!"

 

Qian Fei let out a loud, cold laugh. "Wang Ruohai, you're truly hilarious! Was your brain kicked by a donkey? What right do you have to hesitate? As if I've been waiting for you this entire time! Oh, so you got lonely after your breakup, and now you want to turn around and come look for me? Yet you felt I had too many areas that didn't satisfy you, so you hesitated? Who are you treating as a backup option! Where do you get your confidence from? Besides, just because I've become different, why on earth should I turn around and look favorably upon you!" She fixed her eyes on him, saying coldly, "Wang Ruohai, I find that you truly are shameless enough!"

She turned around and walked right out of Cashbox Karaoke.

While standing by the roadside waiting for a car, Wang Ruohai followed her out.

"Take my car, I'll drive you! It's not easy to hail a taxi here!" he said.

Qian Fei let out a hum, ignored him completely, and walked straight toward a taxi that was driving over.

Of course she knew it wasn't easy to hail a taxi here, but she knew how to use a ride-hailing app on her phone to turn a difficult hail into an easy one.

Wang Ruohai stood behind her, calling out loudly toward her, "Qian Fei, I will give it a try!"

Looking at his brazenly shameless display, Qian Fei truly wanted to get out of the car and slap a handful of snot right across his face.

●︶3︶●

Starting from the day of that gathering, Wang Ruohai sent a bouquet of flowers to Qian Fei's company every single day.

On the first day, it was lilies of the valley, with an attached card reading: Let us start anew.

On the second day, eighty-eight red roses, with an attached card reading: Mending every mistake with all my heart.

On the third day, crimson roses, with an attached card reading: Only wishing to be together with you.

On the fourth day, Qian Fei couldn't take it anymore. She pulled Wang Ruohai's number back out of the blacklist, called him up, and demanded, "What are you trying to do?"

Wang Ruohai, however, let out a satisfied laugh over the phone. "I just wanted to get out of the blacklist, and it looks like it worked!"

Listening to his smug, triumphant tone of voice, Qian Fei felt an urge to throw sulfuric acid in his face.

"Wang Ruohai, let's stop right here. Don't make me look down on you!" Qian Fei said, rubbing her temples.

Wang Ruohai went silent for a moment before saying, "Qian Fei, in the past we were poor, so there were many dissatisfactions. Now I have a car, a house, a high salary, and a position. We will never argue over saving money ever again. You've changed, and believe me, I have changed too!"

Qian Fei found him utterly baffling. "Wang Ruohai, you ought to think about whose shoulders you stepped on to get a car, a house, a high salary, and a position within a single year? Now that you're done stepping on another woman's shoulders, you turn right back around to find your old flame, wanting to mend a broken mirror. Don't you find yourself incredibly shameless and ridiculous?"

She hung up the phone, her chest feeling so stifled she wanted to cry, completely at a loss as to why this farce of a life was playing out upon her.

In the days that followed, Wang Ruohai continued to send flowers to the company just as before. Regarding this matter, Qian Fei had already become too lazy to bother with him.

During this period, she didn't know what kind of whim her old classmates were acting on, but they took turns hosting dinners and treating everyone, leaving almost every single evening occupied. She tried to find excuses not to go several times, but the classmate hosting that evening would simply charge straight into her company right at the end of the workday, leaving her no room to resist or hesitate as they abducted her directly to the dinner gathering.

And at every single dinner gathering, she would see Wang Ruohai. He consistently kept edging toward her side. Regardless of whether she offered cold mockery and burning satire, or concealed knives within her smiles, he would sit beside her with a beaming face, acting entirely thick-skinned, making her feel so uncomfortable she wanted to go leap off a building.

The classmates all seemed to have caught wind of Wang Ruohai's feelings toward her, and one after another, they advised her, "Why don't you just give him another chance? We all feel he has become successful and promising now. Just look at his speech and behavior—he has so much of a romance novel male lead's aura, far more mature than before. He's practically a completely different person!"

Fearing she might get brainwashed and have her willpower waver if she listened to this kind of advice too much, she called Yao Jingjing, hoping to hear a different voice of furious curses against the scumbag from her end.

Instead, Yao Jingjing told her, "Feifei, Wang Ruohai has called me countless times, and I've cursed him out so much my uvula almost sprained! This grandson of a bitch is a miracle too; his attitude remained excellent the entire time, like he’s turned into a completely different person compared to before! He told me he genuinely wants to win you back, blah blah blah, and even said he will absolutely never make up with that vice president's niece. He mentioned he currently has client resources in his hands, so if you're unwilling, he will just resign from Qiansheng and walk away. I was originally filled with bitter hatred and deep resentment toward him, but after cursing him for several days, cursing up to this point, I feel like I'm about to defect to his side—what on earth is going on!"

Supporting herself against the wall, Qian Fei hung up the phone.

Her mind was completely unsettled, and when she went to sleep at night, she forgot to close the window. By the next morning, she directly came down with a fever so high she couldn't get out of bed. She called the company to request a leave of absence, took some fever-reducing medicine, and lay back down.

For some reason, over the next two days, her high fever simply refused to break.

She lay in bed in a groggy stupor, and when she truly couldn't bear the hunger anymore, she would crawl up to cook a little porridge to drink, before continuing to lie down groggily after eating.

Her mind wandered randomly to a lot of past matters—some from her university days, some from when she first started working, some from when she broke up with Wang Ruohai, and also, from the day she was kissed by Li Yifei.

In her blurred state of mind, she thought to herself, Li Yifei has been away on his business trip for over half a month already, right? Why isn't he back yet? If only he were here. With him to talk to her, she wouldn't feel this incredibly lonely and unbearable, this fragile and difficult to endure. Even though his body was delicate and his flesh precious, rendering him completely clueless about taking care of people, she thought that if he were around, he would at least help her wring out a towel.

For some reason, she felt exceptionally uncomfortable tonight. She found the thermometer and checked again—39.9°C. She felt that if she kept burning like this, she was about to be completely scorched.

She suddenly felt a powerful urge to chat with Li Yifei. She picked up her phone to call him.

Unfortunately, after ringing for a long time, he didn't answer.

She felt terribly sad—a deep, unnamable sorrow that manifested both physically and psychologically.

Was he really that terrified of her latching onto him?

She felt that when a person was sick, they truly became exceptionally fragile. At a time like this, a rejection from someone else carried a crushing, thousand-pound weight of emotional damage. She felt as though she had sustained severe internal injuries from the sorrow.

●︶3︶●

While Qian Fei was burning in a groggy stupor, her phone suddenly began to ring. Keeping her eyes closed, she answered it in a completely muddled state, fantasizing in her mind about whether Li Yifei had returned her call.

Unfortunately, the voice actually belonged to the person who had once betrayed her.

Wang Ruohai asked her over the phone, "Why didn't you come to the gatherings these past two days?"

With her eyes closed and her throat raspy, Qian Fei muttered randomly, "Seeing you just irritates me!"

Wang Ruohai frantically asked her over the line what was wrong with her, demanding to know why her voice sounded like that.

Too lazy to deal with him, she hung up the phone.

Following that, she sank into unconsciousness.

By the time she managed to regain a bit of clarity once more, she discovered that Wang Ruohai had actually appeared inside her home.

Amidst the blurring, shifting illusions of human figures that felt both distant and near, she heard him mention how fortunate it was that her habit of hiding a spare key beneath the doormat hadn't changed. She also heard him ask with bitter distress, "How did you manage to get this sick without even telling me?"

Exerting every ounce of her strength, she threw a line back at him: "None of your damn business!" before plunging into unconsciousness once more.

When she opened her eyes again, she was already lying inside a hospital.

The doctor was currently speaking to Wang Ruohai: "Fortunately, the patient has a solid physical foundation. If she had arrived any later, this fever would have turned into pneumonia!"

The doctor had her stay overnight for observation, prescribing an intravenous drip for the nurse to administer.

Her blood vessels were too thin, and several nurses failed to insert the needle properly. In the end, they had to fetch the head nurse from pediatrics before they finally managed to get the needle inside.

Wang Ruohai simply cradled her hand, which was riddled with needle pricks, sighing continuously with deep heartache.

"Why couldn't you have just told me a little bit sooner?"

Qian Fei's eyes felt scratchy and dry. She pulled her hand back crossly, unwilling to respond to him, and closed her eyes to drift off to sleep.

Upon waking from her slumber, she felt a great deal more comfortable. Wang Ruohai had bought some porridge and wanted to feed her. She twisted her head away, snatched the spoon, and shakily relied on her own efforts to feed herself. Once she finished eating, Wang Ruohai used a hot towel to wipe her hands, then went to pour water to help her take her medicine. Watching him busy himself back and forth, she suddenly found it rather ironic.

In the past when they were together, even if she worked overtime until two in the morning, he had been unwilling to pick her up. She never imagined that he could actually take care of her this flawlessly now.

Carrying a trace of a sarcastic smile, she asked him why he had suddenly become so skilled at taking care of people. He answered with absolute earnestness, "First, it's because I've changed. In the past, I truly didn't know how to cherish you, but now I've learned to value you. Second, it's because you've changed too. You've stopped acting entirely like a tomboy and have become a woman who naturally evokes protective heartache in others!"

Qian Fei lacked the energy to critique his line of reasoning, simply shooting back a single line: "Brazenly shameless, spinning far-fetched arguments!"

He took care of her for the entire night. No matter how she tried to drive him away or even cursed at him, he refused to leave.

She even pointed right at his nose and said, "Wang Ruohai, you truly are a piece of trash!"

Yet he actually didn't voice a single word of defense, nor did he get angry.

Early the next morning, he requested a leave of absence from work, continuing to hustle around her, constantly asking after her well-being.

Qian Fei leaned back against the bed, receiving her IV drip as she watched him walk in and out. She recalled the days they used to spend together in the past, and as she thought about it, her thoughts somehow drifted over to Li Yifei.

Her heart suddenly felt exceptionally miserable, and she began to cry uncontrollably.

She truly hated herself; the moment she fell sick, she would become incomparably fragile.

Seeing her cry, Wang Ruohai was startled. He sat down beside her and asked what was wrong. She wouldn't speak, only continuing to weep. Left with no options, Wang Ruohai pulled out his phone to find some jokes on Weibo to read aloud to her. Yet the more he read, the harder she cried.

Crying until the very end, Wang Ruohai tossed his phone aside, leaned over, and swept her into a tight embrace.

Weeping, she pushed against him, saying, "Get out, get out of here! Where were you before this? Only now do you know to treat me well!"

Wang Ruohai held onto her with all his might, refusing to let go no matter how she pushed, repeatedly saying, "Feifei, I was wrong. Give me another chance, okay?"

Qian Fei didn't answer him for a long while.

He felt something was slightly wrong, so he released her, pulled up her hand to check, and his face instantly fell.

The needle in the back of her hand had slipped out of the vein, causing the fluid to pool under her skin.

He hurriedly called over the nurse. The nurse walked in, took one look, and nearly went wild. Looking at Qian Fei, whose face was covered in tears, and then at the completely helpless Wang Ruohai, she barked while pulling out the needle, "Can't you do your intense, painful romance drama at some other time? You just had to pick a moment when a needle is inserted! Is blowing out a vein really that thrilling and satisfying for you guys?!"

Wiping away her tears, Qian Fei glared fiercely at Wang Ruohai and said to the nurse, "He did it all! Nurse, please help me throw him out!"

The nurse rolled her eyes at her, speaking in a tone that bordered on a breakdown, "Sister, please just behave yourself, I beg of you! Don't you know how difficult your own blood vessels are to prick? The nurses at our entire nursing station are about to be driven insane by your veins!"

Rebuked to the point of feeling immense guilt, Qian Fei brought her tears to a halt. Watching from the side, Wang Ruohai suddenly began to laugh for some inexplicable reason.

The nurse went to trouble the pediatric head nurse once more, who successfully re-inserted the needle for Qian Fei.

Once the morning's IV fluids were completely finished, Qian Fei's fever had fully broken. The doctor informed her that she could go home.

Wang Ruohai asked Qian Fei testingly, "Let me drive you back?"

Qian Fei glanced at him, a thousand thoughts flashing through her mind in an instant. Then, she nodded her head. Looking almost overwhelmed by the unexpected favor, Wang Ruohai carefully assisted her into the car.

On the way back, Qian Fei received a WeChat message from Li Yifei: I was having dinner with the corporate clients yesterday and drank a bit too much, so I didn't hear my phone ring. Is something the matter?

Qian Fei felt a slight sting of sourness in her eyes. Suppressing that wave of sourness, she replied: I’ve forgotten what I wanted to say too. Focus on your business trip.

●︶3︶●

Staring at his phone, Li Yifei felt a bit of a lingering sense of loss. He had been away for over half a month already; he had gone from thinking about her a little bit, to thinking about her quite a lot, to thinking about her even more now. It just didn't seem to have reached the point where he missed her to an unbearable degree yet.

Lying in bed, he thought to himself that if he reached the point where he missed her to an unbearable degree, he would confess to her upon his return. If he didn't reach that extent, he would move out to live elsewhere and maintain a buddy status with her.

Thinking this way, he felt a wave of relief wash over him, as if the problem that had plagued him while drinking last night—how he should interact with her—had found a flawless solution.

He actually never drank heavily with corporate clients, but for some reason yesterday, he simply wanted to get thoroughly wasted. It was as if after getting drunk once, he would find the exit out of his troubles.

●︶3︶●

After recovering from her illness, Qian Fei stopped acting as resistant toward Wang Ruohai as before.

Yao Jingjing asked her if she intended to patch things up with him. Answering past the question, she asked Yao Jingjing instead, "Do you still remember a line I said to you when I was moving houses last year?"

Yao Jingjing let out a chuckle and said, "The lines you've said to me are far too many to count, how could I possibly remember every single one? Which line are you talking about?"

Qian Fei let out a chuckle along with her, saying, "If you can't recall it, then forget it."

●︶3︶●

Back then, when she was about to move into her new home, she hadn't been able to bring herself to throw away that old photo album from the past. Yao Jingjing had asked her in anger why she was keeping it, demanding to know if she intended to patch things up with Wang Ruohai someday.

And then she had replied, "If things truly turn out that way, next time it'll be my turn to cheat. I’ll find a wealthy man and go open a hotel room too, giving him a glowing green hat right over his head!"

Yao Jingjing had already forgotten this phrase, but she still remembered it down to this day.