Love Has Fireworks - Chapter 52

Chapter 52: Earnestly Pursuing You

As their kiss grew increasingly passionate, Li Yifei lifted Qian Fei up and tumbled with her onto the sofa. He pinned her beneath his body, leaving absolutely no space between them. His lips and tongue enveloped hers, swirling with earth-shattering intensity. His hands began to knead randomly all over her body. Swept away by an uncontrollable tide of desire the deeper they kissed, his hand slipped underneath the hem of her skirt, tracing a path all the way up her leg. When his fingers brushed against her underwear, he reached down to pull them down without a single shred of hesitation.

Feeling a sudden wave of panic, Qian Fei struggled slightly, but he pinned her legs down to restrain her. Her initial resistance quickly gave way to compliance, and she let him have his way.

Suddenly, the phone inside his shirt pocket began to ring.

●︶3︶●

Li Yifei's phone rang continuously, but he completely ignored it, directing his entire focus toward preparing to claim Qian Fei's body. Hearing the ringtone was incredibly jarring to Qian Fei, so she pushed him away and demanded that he either answer it or decline the call.

He finally pulled his lips away from hers for a moment, propping his upper body up slightly. Through the thin fabric of his pocket, Qian Fei could faintly discern a girl's name illuminating the glowing phone screen.

"Gina?" She read the name aloud. She immediately caught the subtle shift in Li Yifei's expression as a distinct flicker of nervous wariness forcibly cut through the intense, heavy desire pooling in the depths of his eyes.

Her heart skipped a beat. Exerting a bit more force, she pushed him even further away, reached into his pocket to pull out the phone, and answered it on speakerphone with lightning-fast speed.

It was already too late for Li Yifei to stop her. He could only stare at her with wide eyes, forced to listen along with her to the sweet, coquettish female voice echoing from the speaker.

"Aubrey, didn't we agree yesterday that we were going to have dinner together tonight? Where in the world are you right now?"

Holding the phone up, Qian Fei stared directly at Li Yifei.

Li Yifei snatched the phone from her grip, abruptly ending the call and shutting down the device without uttering a single word.

The two of them sat there, staring blankly back and forth at one another, eyes wide.

After glaring at him for a moment, Qian Fei broke the silence with a dark expression. "Aubrey? Impressive. You certainly chose a solid-sounding foreign name!"

Li Yifei looked at her, his gaze shifting guiltily as he spoke with an entirely deflated sense of confidence. "I had no idea you and that guy would break up so quickly! I genuinely believed that you and I stood absolutely no chance! Because I was feeling incredibly miserable before, Da Jun went ahead and introduced me to a girl... But I can swear on my character that nothing has actually happened between her and me yet! Seriously, Qian Fei, you have to believe me!"

Qian Fei looked at him and let out a pair of mocking chuckles. "How novel. To think you actually claim to possess something like 'character' when it comes to women!" The laughter vanished from her face as she gave him a firm, final push to clear him off her. She sat up, pulled her underwear back into place, and stood up from the sofa. Looking down at him like a commanding queen, she patted his shoulder. With complete composure and calm, she cast a glance at the prominent tent pitched in his trousers and said, "Li Yifei, a tough woman like me probably lacks the capacity to rein in an aristocratic young master who claims to have character. I think it's better if we just continue being buddies! Once you manage to completely grind away that deep-seated playboy streak and profligate nature in your bones, only then will we consider whether we can roll around in the sheets together! I'm going to sleep now. If you want to stay, you can sleep on the sofa. If you don't want to stay, make sure to close the door behind you when you leave."

With that, she marched straight back into her bedroom, leaving Li Yifei behind to stare at his swollen lower half in absolute agony.

●︶3︶●

Back inside her room, Qian Fei collapsed onto the bed and buried her face deep into her pillow, savoring the myriad of conflicting emotions swirling within her chest.

Her life over the past few days had felt far more exhilarating and volatile than a roller coaster ride.

Her body still felt warm and responsive, akin to parched earth finally receiving a sudden downpour, leaving her with an underlying yearning to simply plunge into a passionate entanglement and enjoy a thorough release. Yet, the moment the memory of that recent phone call flashed across her mind, the lingering desires within her body that hadn't had a chance to subside finally began to cool and settle down.

She couldn't quite pinpoint whether she harbored resentment toward Li Yifei. But then again, what right did she have to resent him? She was the one who had claimed she was getting back together with her ex-boyfriend, so it was entirely natural for him to go out and look for a new girlfriend.

Even so, she simply felt incredibly displeased in her heart—profoundly displeased, intensely jealous, and exceptionally, uniquely unhappy.

Outside, Li Yifei was knocking on her bedroom door, whimpering and whining as he explained that because she had managed to pull back from the brink of the cliff with her ex-boyfriend just in the nick of time, he and that girl truly hadn't had the chance to discuss any topics beyond the philosophy of life itself.

Qian Fei found herself entirely speechless before the heavens in the face of his utterly brazen explanation. Gritting her teeth, she lifted her head and called back toward the door in an equally whiny tone, "My dear young master, I suggest you beat it with all due haste! Since you already gave that girl your word yesterday, you owe it to her to give her a proper explanation either way. Stop lingering around my place and making a mess of things. Acting like this makes me feel exactly like a home-wrecker!"

Li Yifei fell silent for a brief moment before speaking to her through the door. "Then I'm really leaving."

Shortly after, she heard the front door click shut. He had actually left.

A sudden, indescribable wave of disappointment washed over her heart. His role-play as a man who moved like the wind truly was flawlessly executed—coming and going exactly whenever he pleased. Why did his disposition leave a person feeling so incredibly tempted to give him a swift kick?

As she lay sprawled on her bed, her mind spinning with a chaotic tangle of aimless thoughts, her phone suddenly let out a sharp chime.

It was a text message from Li Yifei: I will try to change myself. Also, starting from tomorrow, I am going to begin earnestly pursuing you.

Staring down at her phone screen, Qian Fei sniffled hard.

●︶3︶●

True to his word, starting from the very next day, Li Yifei boldly—and with an utterly shameless level of effrontery—embarked upon the path of what he deemed a "formal pursuit." Intent on smoothing out his rough edges and testing his patience, Qian Fei purposely refrained from showing any immediate signs of reciprocation.

Yao Jingjing cautioned her, "My dear sister, you need to exercise some restraint and not play too hard to get. Be careful not to push him so far that you end up driving the man away completely!"

Qian Fei countered, "If he can be driven away that easily, it simply proves that he was never meant to be mine to begin with."

Qian Fei established a strict three-clause agreement with Li Yifei: First, they absolutely could not allow anyone from either of their firms to find out about their subtle flirtation; they had to act completely dignified and professional so everyone believed they maintained a perfectly normal working relationship. Second, he was strictly forbidden from coming to her office to pick her up from work. Third, if he visited bars or any other potentially questionable entertainment venues, he was not allowed to keep it a secret from her. Furthermore, if he engaged in any flirtatious glancing with young girls from the Film Academy, the Dance Academy, the Art Academy, or any other institution, he had to ensure it was executed with absolute secrecy so it never reached her ears; otherwise, she might not be able to stop herself from scratching his face out of pure righteous fury.

From observing his past interactions with his ex-girlfriend, she had witnessed far too many of his terrible habits in that department. Back when he belonged to someone else, those actions had nothing to do with her, and she could simply laugh them off with a shrug. However, the moment he became a prospective boyfriend of her own, those wretched habits became something she absolutely could not tolerate under any circumstances.

Regarding her three-clause agreement, Li Yifei expressed his compliance with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.

"On what grounds can't we let people know about our relationship? On what grounds am I forbidden from picking you up at your office? This young master has spent his entire life walking proudly and radiantly beneath the bright sunshine, so how on earth have I suddenly become someone who has to be kept hidden away in the dark! Furthermore, on what grounds do bars qualify as potentially questionable entertainment venues? Those establishments possess perfectly legitimate business licenses, alright! Besides, when the young girls from those various academies find me cool, handsome, and adorable and willingly cast their eyes my way, what am I supposed to do about it? Can a natural-born gift of divine beauty really be eradicated by sheer human effort after the fact?"

Every single one of his utterly shameless objections was ruthlessly shot down by Qian Fei, and his struggles were ultimately declared entirely null and void.

Watching a man who used to navigate the romance scene with effortless grace, walking away with a casual wave of his sleeve without ever shedding a single tear over a girl, now suffering setbacks and getting shut down at every turn, Da Jun spared no effort in delivering relentless sarcasm from the sidelines. "You massive jerk, you completely deserve this! That's what you get for refusing to introduce me to that tough woman. Didn't you claim you weren't trying to keep her all to yourself? I called it perfectly—you just wanted to hog the entire prize for yourself! It serves you right that the tables have finally turned. You've finally met your match!"

 

Of course, the boundaries established by Qian Fei were naturally incapable of completely stopping Li Yifei, whose mind remained perpetually brimming with devious strategies.

●︶3︶●

One day during lunch, Xiao Yuan's eyes lit up with absolute excitement as she shared some juicy gossip with Qian Fei. "I've noticed lately that the incredibly handsome guy from our partner firm has been dropping by our office quite frequently! Every single time he comes over and I escort him into the conference room, he always flashes me a smile and says thank you! Good lord, that breath-takingly exquisite smile of his honestly leaves my heart fluttering wildly. If there weren't so many people around, I'd seriously want to strip him bare and pounce on him right then and there!"

Qian Fei choked on a mouthful of rice.

Sister Jin chimed in from the side, "Oh, absolutely! How on earth did that young man manage to grow up looking so incredibly handsome and dashing? Even a woman like me, whose child is practically old enough to start elementary school, gets flushed and wide-eyed just looking at him!"

Qian Fei choked on her rice a second time.

Sister Jin patted her on the back to help her recover. "Feifei, why is your throat acting so narrow today? You keep choking over and over." Then, shifting the topic seamlessly, she continued babbling with Xiao Yuan, "But now that I think about it, he didn't show up at all during our first few project meetings." She turned her head back to look at Qian Fei. "Feifei, has your project run into some kind of trouble lately? Why does he keep coming over to discuss matters so frequently? I heard he's already officially registered as a Sponsor Representative! To be so young, look that incredibly handsome, and hold a sponsor title—good heavens, his future prospects are simply boundless!" Sister Jin's eyes sparkled as she locked her gaze onto Qian Fei. "I wonder if he has a girlfriend right now? If he's single, you should honestly just go for it, Feifei! Snatch him up immediately! He is the absolute gold standard of marriage material!"

Qian Fei felt as though she was about to choke to death on her lunch.

There wasn't a single issue with the project at all. It was simply that every few days, he would invariably invent some random matter out of thin air, claiming he needed to come over and discuss it in person. Every single time he visited, he precisely selected a time right after three in the afternoon. Upon arrival, he would first cast a spell of infatuation over the entire female staff across all generations, proceed to hold a perfectly dignified and proper discussion with the project lead for a short while, and finally mention her name with a casual air, asking the project lead to step out and attend to other matters while leaving her behind to sort out the remaining trivial details with him.

As a result, the two of them would be left completely alone inside the conference room. Xiao Yuan would occasionally pop in under the pretext of pouring a fresh cup of tea, seizing the opportunity to wink and nudge at Qian Fei, using her expressive, encouraging eyes to urge her on: "A golden opportunity! Hurry up and take him down!"

Qian Fei genuinely felt that a proper, upstanding individual like herself was on the verge of being utterly overwhelmed by this degenerate society.

Above the table, he would maintain a perfectly dignified facade while discussing the project with her, while beneath the table, he behaved like a complete beast in a tailored suit, continuously rubbing his foot against her leg. He would persist with this beastly meeting style all the way until five-thirty in the evening before executing a perfectly timed departure to head downstairs with her. Once they managed to walk a safe distance away from the office building, he would completely drop all pretenses, using his hands and feet to engage in blatant public mischief.

Qian Fei felt that through her continuous efforts to deflect and parry this shameless rogue's wandering hands, she was on the verge of mastering a specialized routine of Qian-style Tai Chi.

She had once delivered a righteous, stern protest: "Can your formal pursuit look a little more normal, decent, and proper, just like everyone else's?"

Li Yifei countered, "What exactly do other people look like? What qualifies as being normal, decent, and proper?"

Qian Fei explained, "Other people go out for meals, watch movies, and stroll along the streets together. Being normal, decent, and proper means you stop abusing your professional position to come over to my office and flirt with me!"

Li Yifei immediately fired back, "How exactly am I flirting with you? On which day have my actions failed to originate from genuine affection while stopping firmly at the boundaries of propriety?"

Qian Fei practically spat out a cold laugh. "As if! Do you possess even a shred of shame? You call that originating from affection and stopping at propriety? What you're doing is clearly originating from heat and stopping at nothing short of harassment, alright!"

Li Yifei offered a perfectly dignified defense. "Qian Fei, let's look at this logically from the ground up. I believe there is a fundamental flaw in your train of thought. Have you ever seen a man and a woman remain normal, decent, and proper, purely chatting beneath a blanket, and somehow manage to produce a child? If everyone acted like that, the human race would face total extinction! Is that truly the kind of scenario you wish to witness? You don't strike me as someone so entirely devoid of humanity!"

Qian Fei was so thoroughly choked by his absurd piece of twisted logic that she felt ready to collapse onto the floor. Refusing to spend another second bickering with this guy whose thick skin remained utterly unmatched beneath the heavens over matters she could never hope to win, she simply smacked her palm straight against his face, ruthlessly pushing his annoying and thoroughly shameless face away from her.

●︶3︶●

Li Yifei was currently residing near the Sijiqing Bridge area, which hosted a neighborhood of luxury villas; he occupied one of the standalone, detached properties. When Qian Fei questioned him on whether he was renting the place or had purchased it, Li Yifei slowly arched an eyebrow before replying in a leisurely tone, "Renting! A while back, a foolish slip of a girl played fast and loose with this young master's emotions. In a fit of sheer fury, I went ahead and leased a massive villa to help disperse my gloom. The property is incredibly spacious and spectacular; hosting a party or something on a daily basis truly couldn't be any more convenient!"

Qian Fei let out a cold, expressionless snort.

She was well aware that he had successfully signed off on several projects and earned a substantial amount of bonuses. She had also heard from Yao Jingjing that he and Da Jun had established a private company focusing on import-export trade, which was generating a considerable amount of profit. Even so, she still couldn't stop herself from feeling that he was being far too extravagant and wasteful.

"How wonderful would it be if you accumulated whatever money you have on hand? Why on earth must you insist on renting a villa to live in! If you saved up that rental money for six months to a year, there isn't a single neighborhood in this city where you couldn't afford to buy a proper apartment!"

Li Yifei had finally caught a golden opportunity to discuss the rental situation with her. Seizing the opening, he remarked, "In that case, why don't you get rid of that older lady, and I'll move right back in to rent your room again!"

Qian Fei indicated that she would take some time to think it over.

However, a few days later, before she could even begin to form a solid conclusion, Li Yifei went ahead and executed yet another action that left her slamming her hand on the desk and stamping her feet in utter exasperation.

He had gone out and acquired a vehicle—a Cadillac.

Qian Fei was on the verge of blowing her top. "You're renting a luxury villa, driving a sedan, and completely refusing to buy a piece of real estate—what on earth are you trying to accomplish, Young Master Li! Does this behavior resemble the lifestyle of someone trying to build a proper, stable household!" Even as she fumed with indignation, she didn't hesitate for a single second before climbing straight into the passenger seat.

As Li Yifei helped her fasten her seatbelt, he gently smoothed over her ruffled feathers. "The weather is incredibly hot right now, and the fabric of your skirts is so thin. You're crammed inside the subway cars every single day getting rubbed against by random strangers left and right. Given this young master's naturally pure and protective disposition, do you honestly think I can stand by and watch that happen?"

Qian Fei came remarkably close to regurgitating her entire lunch straight onto his face.

Watching her purse her lips while trying to get her breathing under control, Li Yifei let out a soft chuckle. "Alright, fine. I won't go around buying random things indiscriminately from now on. Moving forward, I'll turn all my money over to you so you can manage it for me, how about that?"

Qian Fei shot him a sidelong glance and questioned, "I strongly suspect whether you even have any money left at all right now!"

Li Yifei arched an eyebrow. "It's all gone. My funds for next month's rent are actually looking a bit tight. What should we do? Why don't you support me instead!"

Qian Fei rolled her eyes at him, her face filled with absolute exasperation at his failure to live up to his potential. "Serves you right! That's what you get for letting cash slip straight through your fingers without holding onto it! You don't even stop to consider whether you can successfully survive into the next month before throwing yourself whole-heartedly into causing reckless havoc!" She shifted around slightly in the car seat, finding that the vehicle truly was remarkably comfortable to sit in—it was indeed countless tens of thousands of times more humane than the crowded subway.

"How about this: for the time being, you should look for a different apartment to transition into so you can cut down on your expenses. Once the older lady's rental term expires next month, I'll have a discussion with her to see if she can look for alternative accommodations."

Li Yifei beamed so brightly his face resembled a freshly steamed, blossoming bun. He looked incredibly delighted—so delighted, in fact, that it was almost a little irritating. "With a face like mine, a single month's rent doesn't even qualify as an issue! I'll just wait it out over by Sijiqing Bridge. The moment that older lady who usurped my nest sees her term expire, I'm moving right back in!"

Qian Fei desperately wanted to slap his thoroughly shameless face.

To think he actually used the phrase 'usurped my nest'—he truly behaved as though her apartment was his own personal home.