Love Has Fireworks - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Attempting to Eat Meat but Thwarted

Gui Lili frequently clogged the sink. Qian Fei felt that the girl seemed to lack a great deal of basic life skills, such as not knowing what could be poured down a sink and what could not. The first two times, it pained her wallet to hire someone to clear the pipes, costing her several hundred yuan. By the third time Gui Lili told her the drain was blocked, she couldn't bear the thought of spending the money to call someone over anymore.

Recalling what the plumber had done during the previous two visits, she rolled up her sleeves and took matters into her own hands.

Although the process was a bit disgusting, the result was good. Under the reluctant prodding and plunging of a wire coat hanger in her hands, the drain finally cleared up. At this point, she happily realized that she had successfully mastered yet another survival skill—unclogging drains.

While she could now resolve the drainage issue whenever it arose, she soon began to face the anxiety of an emergency in the refrigerator.

The vegetable market was a bit far from home, so she was used to buying a large amount of groceries each time she went. Usually, it was enough for three to four days, and she would hoard them in the refrigerator. However, Gui Lili gradually, bit by bit, transformed the refrigerator's fresh food compartment into her personal facial mask storage room. She hoarded facial masks in the fridge until they were as high as a mountain and as vast as the sea! The first time she saw all those facial masks holding a massive gathering in the refrigerator, Qian Fei felt that even if she had ten faces and every single face was incredibly huge, it would still take her ten years to use up all those gooey things.

She found it impossible to voice her thoughts to Gui Lili and say, "You have too many facial masks. Can you leave me a little space to put my vegetables?" Consequently, she could no longer store groceries in the refrigerator and had to walk a lot more every day to buy fresh produce at the market.

Fortunately, the weather was gradually turning colder. After the National Day holiday, even if vegetables weren't kept in the refrigerator, they wouldn't spoil. Qian Fei had never loved autumn as intensely as she did this year.

Before she knew it, the end of October arrived, which was the most unbearable period of the year in Beijing. This was because municipal heating had not yet been turned on during this time, and after the Beginning of Winter, the weather grew cold. The inside of the apartment was so freezing to the hands and feet that it felt like a massive ice cellar. Every day, Qian Fei could only console herself by looking at the southern kids wailing on Weibo, "We in the South need heating installed too!"

At least she had something to look forward to—the citywide heating would turn on in a couple of days and it would be warm. But those poor compatriots in the South, during winters that grew colder one after another, could only endure it dryly.

Lately, Qian Fei could always hear the couple next door arguing endlessly over trivial matters.

Sometimes she felt that if dating had to be this agonizing, with arguments occurring as frequently as a work schedule, it would be better to just break up cleanly like she and Wang Ruohai had done.

They often made earth-shattering rackets over throwing out the trash, sweeping the floor, cleaning the bathroom, or doing the laundry. The moment they started fighting, a cold war would ensue for two or three days. During those two or three days, neither of them would tidy up the apartment, and it would escalate to the point where she had to clean up the trash in the kitchen, the living room, and the study.

One evening, it was even more excessive. The moment she returned home, she saw Gui Lili and Li Yifei arguing in the living room. The main battlefield had already shifted from the bedroom to the living room; it seemed there was no longer any room to step inside their bedroom. And the primary theme of the argument still revolved around the issue of doing chores.

Gui Lili said, "Li Yifei, I am your girlfriend, not your maid! You can't expect me to do everything!"

Li Yifei said, "Gui Lili, as a woman, isn't it only natural for you to do some laundry and cook some meals?"

Gui Lili said, "I am an only child! My parents raised me like a son. On what grounds should I be the one to do all this!"

Li Yifei said, "You can't even handle these basic things well, do you even count as a woman?"

Gui Lili said, "Li Yifei, can you stop bullying me! I just don't want to do chores!"

Gui Lili seemed to have drunk a bit of alcohol, standing in the living room and swaying back and forth.

Hearing these few lines made Qian Fei feel immensely embarrassed. Therefore, she quickly lowered her head and piously chanted in her mind, "Don't see me, don't see me," attempting to slip all the way back to her own room. However, when she was just two steps away from her door, she was called out by Gui Lili.

Swaying as she called, Gui Lili said, "Qian Fei! You're back! That's wonderful!" She swayed over and grabbed Qian Fei's hand, turning her head to say happily to Li Yifei, "Yifei, I have a solution!" She turned back to look at Qian Fei. "Qian Fei, why don't you help us do the chores? We will pay you!"

Qian Fei listened, completely dumbfounded.

Li Yifei walked over and pulled Gui Lili away with a firm tug. "Gui Lili, can you sober up a bit? Can you stop going out to drink with your boss and then coming home to throw a drunk tantrum? Can we please stop making fools of ourselves? Look clearly, she is the landlord, and the place you are living in right now is her apartment! She is not a domestic worker! Her temper is good enough and she has tolerated you enough, can you stop taking complete advantage of a kind person!"

Li Yifei glanced at Qian Fei, uttered an apology, and dragged Gui Lili back into their room.

Qian Fei stood blankly at her doorway, dazed for a while.

She suddenly felt that Li Yifei wasn't a bad person after all. Although he looked arrogant and difficult to deal with, he still knew what was what in his heart. For instance, he knew she was kind.

She returned to her own room.

That night, even through her earplugs, she heard them argue for a full half of the night.

※※※※※※

Early the next morning, to avoid the awkwardness of running into them, Qian Fei left the apartment very early.

When she arrived at the company, she received a WeChat message from Hu Zining asking if she had time tonight, and if so, to have dinner together.

She replied with an "okay."

They were getting along very smoothly, occasionally eating meals and watching movies together. When they watched a movie last month, Hu Zining had held her hand. Last week on Hu Zining's birthday, Qian Fei steeled her heart, spent a bit of money to buy a wallet, and gifted it to him as a congratulatory present. Hu Zining remained in a state of absolute elation the entire evening, and right before they parted ways, he kissed her.

When his handsome face pressed down toward her, Qian Fei realized she wasn't nearly as excited as she had imagined she would be.

The sensation this kiss gave her felt like nothing more than the physical contact between an upper lip and a lower lip; it didn't cause her heart rate to quicken or stop altogether.

She remembered that when Wang Ruohai kissed her for the first time, her entire body felt burning hot, and her ears sounded as if water were boiling inside them, roaring and rumbling. When the kiss ended, her heart beat so wildly it felt as if it were about to leap straight out of her throat.

Even later on, when they had been together for a long time and the kind of passion from the early days of dating had faded, whenever they kissed, she still felt very comfortable and captivated.

But why was it that when Hu Zining kissed her, she didn't feel a single shred of excitement?

She didn't even want to deepen the kiss with him. So, when Hu Zining attempted to pry open her teeth, she pulled away.

Thinking she was just shy, Hu Zining looked at her with a beaming smile and asked in a very charming, sultry voice, "What's wrong, hmm?"

For some reason, she didn't quite dare to look directly at his handsome, charming face. Lowering her head, she murmured haltingly, "It's a bit too fast!"

He pulled her into his arms and chuckled, speaking to her in a highly doting tone: "Are you shy, hmm? My little Feifei really is so innocent and adorable!"

Hearing this made her entire body shudder.

It turned out she could actually be described with such corny modifiers.

※※※※※※

In the evening after finishing work, Qian Fei and Hu Zining ate dinner at the food court on the seventh floor of the Parkson Department Store. After finishing their meal, Hu Zining suggested to her, "It's still early, why don't you come over to my place so you know where I live!"

Qian Fei thought about it; there wasn't much to do after going home anyway, so she agreed.

Hu Zining rented the apartment together with a classmate. When they arrived home, there was no one else in the house.

Hu Zining turned on the computer, preparing to play a movie.

He asked Qian Fei, "What genre of film do you want to watch?"

Qian Fei said, "Anything is fine, as long as it's good!"

Hu Zining thought for a moment and asked, "Then how about we watch Lost in Beijing?" When he asked this, the expression in his eyes as he looked at Qian Fei was even more tender and full of affection than usual.

Qian Fei had never seen this movie. Based on the Chinese title, Apple, she guessed that it must be an inspirational film describing how a rural entrepreneur relied on their own two hands to diligently plant fruit trees and sell apples to achieve prosperity and wealth. So she nodded and said, "Sure! Let's watch this one!"

Hu Zining found the movie, set it to full-screen playback, and pulled Qian Fei down to sit with him on the sofa.

With a heart full of mainstream expectations, Qian Fei waited to watch a plot praising the diligent working people of socialism. Yet as she waited, she ended up seeing a completely naked Fan Bingbing and a completely naked Tong Dawei whimpering and groaning completely naked in a bathroom...

She discovered that Hu Zining really fancied Fan Bingbing.

She wanted to look away, yet she was afraid Hu Zining would think she was being overly sensitive. But staring at the screen made her feel incredibly embarrassed. Right when she was caught in a dilemma, completely unsure of whether to look or not, she felt Hu Zining's hand lingeringly crawl onto her thigh.

His head leaned in close as well, his mouth right next to her ear, and she heard his breathing become somewhat rapid. She didn't dare to make a single movement, deeply afraid that an improper motion would give Hu Zining the wrong idea.

On the computer screen, Liu Apple was currently being pinned against the bathroom wall by her husband, panting and groaning out loud. She felt Hu Zining licking her ear.

His hand traveled along her thigh, groping its way toward her waist.

She didn't even dare to breathe heavily.

His mouth kissed its way across her ear and cheek, intending to kiss her lips.

Qian Fei leaned back slightly and asked awkwardly, "When will your classmate be back?"

Holding her chin to prevent her from retreating any further, Hu Zining said with an ambiguous breath, "Don't be afraid, he won't walk in on us!"

As he spoke, he pressed forward to kiss her, using his tongue to push firmly against her teeth.

Qian Fei's inner self was caught in an infinite struggle—should she just let him have his way, or push him away with a firm shove?

Physically, she felt she didn't have any desire to let Hu Zining pin her down on the sofa to whimper and groan right now. However, he already looked extremely passionate; if she pushed him away at this moment, wouldn't it be rather inappropriate? Would doing so hurt his self-esteem?

Right when Qian Fei was hesitating over the decision, her phone suddenly began to ring. She felt that she was finally saved from her decision paralysis.

At first, Hu Zining still didn't want to let her go, but her phone kept ringing endlessly. By the time it reached the end of the ringtone, he finally lost his momentum.

He reluctantly sat up, letting Qian Fei answer the call.

Qian Fei looked at the caller ID on her phone; it was Gui Lili. She wondered what this deity wanted this time.

She suddenly felt that it might have been better to just let Hu Zining pin her down after all.

The moment the call connected, she heard Gui Lili ask her in a delicate, pitiful voice, "Qian Fei, when are you coming home? The power suddenly went out in the house, and I'm a little scared! Yifei went out for some business and will be home a bit later. Can you come back first to keep me company?"

Pinching her forehead, Qian Fei struggled internally.

Should she choose to be pinned down by Hu Zining, or go home to face this difficult-to-serve deity?

After thinking it over, she felt that getting pinned down tonight was a bit fast no matter how one looked at it; it would make her flesh look too easily obtainable. Therefore, she said to Gui Lili, "Wait thirty minutes for me, I'm heading home right now!"

When she put down the phone, she saw an expression of complete displeasure on Hu Zining's face.

She smiled dryly as she explained, "This girl is faint-hearted!"

Looking thoroughly vexed, Hu Zining said, "But Feifei, you are only her landlord, not her mother! Do you know that for the sake of today, my roommate went to stay at his friend's place tonight on purpose!"

Qian Fei's heart gave a sudden thud.

No wonder he told her to rest assured just now, saying they wouldn't be walked in on by his classmate. It turned out he had planned it out from the very beginning—to bring her home tonight to watch a wealth-building movie and sleep with her while he was at it.

Qian Fei could no longer manage a smile. Tidying up her somewhat messy hair at her temples, she bid farewell to Hu Zining. "This matter... it's not something that needs to be rushed right this moment anyway. I think I should head home first!"

Hu Zining appeared a bit unhappy and didn't mention anything about escorting her home. She comforted herself with the thought that even if he did mention it every time, she always said no anyway, so the outcome was exactly the same whether he offered or not.

She walked to the subway station by herself.

Once she boarded the subway, she couldn't resist sending Hu Zining a WeChat message:

"I'm really sorry, Zining!"

After about twenty minutes, Hu Zining finally replied with a text: "It's fine. Who told you to be so kind-hearted!"

In the past, she particularly loved to hear him praise her for being kind-hearted, but tonight for some unknown reason, she couldn't help but suspect he was mocking her.