Love Has Fireworks - Chapter 56

Chapter 56: He Went to a Cocktail Party

Li Yifei told Qian Fei that he had something come up at the last minute on the night she was returning and wouldn't be able to get away, so he would ask his buddy to go help pick her up.

Qian Fei said there was no need to go to such trouble. "Why act so high-maintenance? During the first eighteen years of my life when I didn't know you, I dragged my own suitcases out of the airport and never managed to get lost!"

Li Yifei let out a dry laugh and said, "You really have the nerve to claim the number eighteen! Qian Qian, this isn't being high-maintenance. This is a way for me to release my love for you. Feel the love!"

He also told Qian Fei, "By the way, the buddy picking you up is the legendary idiot, the Little Phone Bill Prince. He's a bit foolish, a bit trash-talking, and a bit of a playboy. When the time comes, just treat him like a breathing chauffeur. No matter what he chats with you about, ignore him completely."

Qian Fei asked, "Why can't I talk to him?"

Li Yifei replied, "Because this kid pushes his luck. The moment you pay attention to him, he gets all worked up, and it's easy for him to spout ten thousand words in one breath and propose to you while he's at it."

Qian Fei said, "Well, that sounds wonderful. Foolish with plenty of money—that's exactly the kind of male friend I'm lacking!"

Li Yifei went quiet for a moment, then said, "Forget it, take a taxi back yourself when the time comes."

However, when Qian Fei stepped off the plane that night, Dajun was still the one there to pick her up.

This was Qian Fei's first close-up encounter with this legendary Little Phone Bill Prince. She thought his features belonged to the type of boy-next-door younger brother who became cuter the more you looked at him.

That was her impression of him before he opened his mouth. But the moment he spoke, Qian Fei was instantly defeated.

In her entire life, she truly had never met anyone more long-winded than this man...

Dajun introduced himself to her, saying, "Hello, Qian Fei. My name is Jun Cheng. 'Jun' as in army, and 'Cheng' as in prime minister. I was Li Yifei's classmate in the mid-sized kindergarten class, classmate in elementary school, classmate in junior high, and classmate in high school. You must find it strange why I'm explaining this in such detail instead of just sweeping it over by saying he and I were classmates throughout school. Because I feel this reflects much better just how long Li Yifei and I have known each other, and it makes it easier to dispel your sense of unfamiliarity with me. That way, our interactions for the rest of the time won't be too awkward!"

Qian Fei certainly did not feel awkward now; she felt a headache coming on.

●︶3︶●

On the road, Qian Fei said, "I thought your name was Jun-something-something, but I didn't expect it to be Jun-something. Your surname is quite rare!"

Dajun turned the steering wheel and said, "Isn't it! Actually, my childhood nickname should have been Da Cheng or simply Big Prime Minister or something like that, but they insisted on calling me Dajun. My perfectly high-end, classy name was forcefully turned into something incredibly low-class. Do you feel it! Furthermore, Qian Fei, I have to correct you. I am not called Jun-something-something, I am called Jun Cheng. I have a two-syllable name."

Qian Fei felt her brain swelling a bit. How could a person who loved saving up phone bills be this much of a chatterbox...

She decided not to talk about him anymore, fearing he would start spouting ten thousand words after ten thousand words without end. She shifted the topic to Li Yifei.

"Since you and Li Yifei have been classmates through everything, your relationship must be exceptionally good, right?" she asked casually. She figured men always loved boasting about brotherhood and things like that.

"It's terrible!" As it turned out, the Big Prime Minister replied exactly like that. "That guy is a first-class rogue, a scumbag, and a blackmailer! If he didn't hold leverage over me, I'd be crazy to pay him any mind! He never includes me when good things happen, but leaves all the dirty and exhausting work for me to do! Take you for example. Back then, you talked about that tea, those tickets to see Da Peng's performance, that plane ticket home during the Spring Festival rush, that little iPhone 5, and those two bottles of Wuliangye liquor—which of those wasn't procured by me running around? Yes, he paved the way, but wasn't I the one running the errands in the end! How did it turn out that the one who ended up with you was him! I even feel like I took a liking to you before he did! And then today it's like this again. Pht! Scumbag, beast, massive animal!"

Qian Fei was practically breaking into a sweat. What had Li Yifei said again? This Little Phone Bill Prince really did start confessing his love along the way once he got worked up...

However, she caught onto a few things from those words.

"What was that you just said about the iPhone?" she asked Dajun.

Busy as he was, Dajun turned his head to glance at her—specifically, at the phone she was holding in her hand. "Look, the one you're holding right there, wasn't I the one who ran the errands to buy it!"

Qian Fei froze for a moment. "Bought it? How much did it cost?"

Dajun said, "The market price is over five thousand yuan!" He paused, then cried out in alarm, "Oh no, when we rehearsed our lines back then, it seems that wasn't how we were supposed to say it. It seems we were supposed to say your phone was confiscated by customs!"

Qian Fei turned her head to look at him blankly, feeling that this Little Phone Bill Prince truly lived up to his reputation of being foolish with plenty of money.

"Then what was the deal with the Wuliangye liquor?" she asked again.

Dajun asked, "What did Li Yifei tell you?"

Qian Fei said, "I forgot!"

Dajun replied, "Then I forgot too!"

Qian Fei countered, "When I get home, I'll tell Li Yifei that you already let the secret slip about the iPhone."

Dajun wailed, "Big sister, don't be like this! Those two bottles of Wuliangye, Li Yifei had me go back to their house under the pretext of wishing his dad an early New Year, and steal them from under the old man's bed..."

Qian Fei felt like she was about to crack apart... She thought the person before her must have spent time in the pediatric department of the psychiatric hospital when he was a child. He absolutely must have.

●︶3︶●

Qian Fei thought about it and said again, "You just said Li Yifei never includes you in good things and leaves the dirty, exhausting work for you, and then you said he's doing it again today. What's that about?"

Dajun glanced at her and gave an "Oh." "It's nothing, really. It's just that he went to attend a business cocktail party himself today. I wanted to go too, but he wouldn't let me. He said the person he wanted to bring was a female companion, and since my gender was unverified, I was disqualified immediately."

Qian Fei also gave an "Oh" and didn't speak further.

For the rest of the ride, no matter how Dajun tried to start a conversation, she didn't have much heart to join in.

After returning home, she didn't know what kind of evil had possessed her, but she opened her computer and went straight to Baidu, typing in the keywords "business cocktail party."

Unfortunately, what popped up were all sorts of messy things like "The Purpose and Flow Chart of Business Cocktail Parties" and "What to Note at Business Cocktail Parties." There was no newsworthy description like "A business cocktail party will be held at such-and-such venue on such-and-such date" that she wanted to see.

Feeling unsatisfied, she closed her computer and went to take a shower. After washing up, she lay on the bed. When she picked up her phone, she remembered the price of the device and sighed in her heart. She thought to herself that she must make up a proper birthday gift for Li Yifei in a couple of days.

Then she lit up the screen, and the time was already eleven-thirty.

At this time on any other day, Li Yifei would have long since started bothering her. Today, however, WeChat was completely quiet.

Feeling thoroughly bored, she tapped on her phone screen and sent a message to Li Yifei.

"I'm home."

A long time later, Li Yifei finally replied: "This master knows. Dajun already reported in. I still have some matters to finish up over here. Go to sleep early, and this master will dote on you tomorrow."

Looking at the screen, Qian Fei let out a sudden snort and smiled.

She turned off her phone, switched off the light, and intended to sleep.

But just as drowsiness began to hit her, the phone suddenly let out a chiming sound.

She clumsily fumbled around for her phone to look at it. She originally thought Li Yifei was sending her a message, but to her surprise, the sender was Xiao Yuan, who had sent her a voice message.

Sleepiness pervaded her mind, and she hesitated over whether to listen to it. After a brief struggle, considering that Xiao Yuan never bothered her this late and fearing it might truly be something urgent, she tapped open the voice message.

Xiao Yuan's voice, tinged with excitement and thrill, echoed through the pitch-black room.

And after she finished listening to this message, her sleepiness vanished entirely in an instant.

Xiao Yuan said: "Feifei, hurry up and get on Weibo! Then search for a female celebrity I like named Jin Tian! Look quickly at the photo she just posted! See if the man in the photo is Li Yifei from the partner company? The more I look, the more it looks like him! I think it's him!"

The words Dajun had spoken when he picked her up echoed in Qian Fei's ears once more—the phrase that had made her a tiny bit absentminded the entire evening no matter what she was doing.

"It's nothing, really. It's just that he went to attend a business cocktail party himself today. I wanted to go too, but he wouldn't let me. He said the person he wanted to bring was a female companion, and since my gender was unverified, I was disqualified immediately."

Qian Fei scrambled up in one swift movement, turned on the light, grabbed her phone, and logged into Weibo at maximum speed. She searched the keyword "Jin Tian" and clicked into her profile page.

Then she saw a post with an accompanying image. The artistic flavor between the lines forced a person to shudder.

"Midnight makes a person's heart restless. I like him, yet do not wish to say it, so I call him big brother. Big brother, after tonight, I hope you can still accompany me just like you are now..."

The accompanying image below the text was a selfie. On the left side of the photo was the beautiful, delicate palm-sized face of that girl named Jin Tian, wearing dignified banquet makeup. On the right side, the profile of a certain man standing behind her had been captured into the screen from a candid angle.

The profile of that man was so handsome that it caused a sharp ache deep in Qian Fei's eyes.

She clicked open the comments and saw many messages left by fans:

"Is this the person Sweet Jin likes? So handsome! Snatch him quickly!"

"Sweet Jin, keep it up, no man could possibly dislike you! Oppa is so handsome! You two must last a long, long time!"

"Sweet Jin, you are the most beautiful, cutest, and most wonderful girl. He will definitely be conquered by you!"

"Sweet Jin, I can't imagine a man who wouldn't like you! Big brother must love you to death! Otherwise, how could he attend a cocktail party with you! After tonight, you two will definitely be together! No, why don't you just stay together for the entire night tonight! Covering my mouth and laughing!"

"Wow, calling her lover big brother! So cute! Crying from the cuteness!!!!!"

...

Qian Fei could not read any further. Reading a few more comments like these only made her feel smaller and smaller.

She exited the comment page and slid her finger downward. Below were a few more posts, also accompanied by a few photos, which showed Jin Tian telling her fans what kind of cocktail party she had gone to attend.

She tapped the refresh page button, wanting to see if Jin Tian had updated any new content.

As it turned out, she discovered that Jin Tian had deleted the latest Weibo post she had sent.

She stared blankly for a long while before remembering to reply to Xiao Yuan.

"You didn't see wrong. That man is indeed Li Yifei from the partner company."

●︶3︶●

Qian Fei told Xiao Yuan that Jin Tian had deleted the post and asked if she had saved the photo just now. Xiao Yuan said she had saved it.

Qian Fei said, "Send it to me."

Xiao Yuan asked, "What do you want it for?"

Forcing down that indescribable feeling of bleak, suffocating pain in her heart, Qian Fei replied, "To keep it so I can extort a meal out of the person involved when we have a meeting together."

Xiao Yuan sent the picture over, closely followed by another text message: "To tell you the truth, my sixth sense always thought he was interested in you..."

Qian Fei replied to her, "Your sixth sense has been immersed in the entertainment scene for too many years; it was worn out and inaccurate long ago."

Then she stared at the photo for another long while. As she looked, she actually found that the picture showed a tendency to become blurry.

She quickly sniffled and warned herself not to be so pathetic.

She wanted to force herself to lie down and sleep, but she simply could not suppress her restless fingers. Ultimately, she sent a message to Li Yifei.

"Where are you? Not home yet?"

After a moment, Li Yifei replied: "Busy with some matters. I'll head home after dropping off a friend. It's very late, you should sleep quickly!"

Qian Fei put down her phone, thinking about that "friend" sitting in his passenger seat, thinking about the smile blooming like a flower on her beautiful face, and thinking about her softly calling the person driving "big brother" in a gentle voice. That was his girlfriend after Gui Lili.

For some reason, she overlapped her impression of tonight with the scene from back then when she went to the hotel to catch Wang Ruohai in the act of cheating.

She asked where they were, and they told her they were working overtime, busy with some matters; they both told her to sleep quickly.

Suddenly, her eyes grew hot.

One after another, they were all like this.

He said he had already cut ties cleanly with all those flirtatious women. She thought that perhaps the standard of "cutting ties cleanly" in his mind was different from the standard in her heart.

When all was said and done, it seemed they were ultimately not the same kind of people after all.

She closed her eyes to comfort herself.

Fortunately, she wasn't trapped all that deeply at the moment.

Fortunately, truly fortunately, she had discovered this issue of being two different kinds of people relatively early.

Fortunately, fortunately, completely fortunately, she hadn't discovered that his ex-girlfriend was calling him big brother only when she was unable to extricate herself.