Li Yifei complained about the awful taste of the alcohol while taking a big gulp. Then he looked up at Qian Fei and asked, "Can you tell me about your boyfriend cheating on you?"
Qian Fei nearly slapped him across the face. "What? Trying to find comfort in my misery? You feel better seeing someone worse off than you? Li Yifei, what kind of heart do you have! Even if you want to free yourself, you don’t have to drag me into reopening old wounds for you!"
Li Yifei took another swig. "I’m not trying to use your pain to prove I’m not that miserable. I just want to help you analyze the reasons and lessons from being cheated on!"
Qian Fei glared at him fiercely. "Who are you analyzing for? Am I doomed to be cheated on for life or what?"
Completely oblivious to how annoying he was, Li Yifei said, "You never know!"
Qian Fei stood up to leave, but Li Yifei grabbed her arm. "Alright, I’ll stop. Just sit with me for a while!"
Looking down at his face—proud yet slightly pleading—Qian Fei felt both irritated and amused. That scruffy face of his looked just like Won Bin, her ultimate Korean celebrity crush (This was 2012, before the Professor appeared, so it was Won Bin, haha! Sorry, did I break your immersion? Haha!). Against such a face, she couldn’t bring herself to be too harsh.
With a long sigh, she sat back down. "Li Yifei, has anyone ever told you you’re an insufferable, shameless jerk?"
Li Yifei raised his can and said to Qian Fei, "Come on, let’s toast to the insufferable, shameless jerk!"
Qian Fei clinked cans with him. Li Yifei added, "Clinking means you have to finish it! Know what 'finish' means? Down it in one go! If you clink but don’t finish, you’ll be poor for three generations!"
Qian Fei glared at him, grinding her teeth in frustration.
She tilted her head back and downed the drink. When she finished, she saw Li Yifei staring at her without blinking.
The alcohol hit her hard, sending a dizzying wave of heat straight to her head.
"What are you looking at?" She shoved him.
Li Yifei kept his eyes on her. "Qian Fei, you’re really something. I was just joking, but you actually finished it!"
Qian Fei wanted to strangle him.
Li Yifei threw his head back and drained his can as well.
"How can someone like you still exist these days? Acting like a saint all the time—nice to everyone, cooking, cleaning, fixing fuses, capable of anything. And you believe whatever anyone tells you. How do you live so selflessly for humanity?"
Qian Fei frowned. "Is that a compliment or an insult?"
Li Yifei pulled out two more cans, handing one to her. "Just take it as a compliment."
Qian Fei gritted her teeth. "So you were actually insulting me, huh? Li Yifei, I’ll let it slide for now since you’re going through a breakup, but mark my words—once you’re over this, I’ll make sure you pay!"
Li Yifei actually smiled. "I’ll be waiting!" He raised his can again. "Dare to finish another one?"
The alcohol was starting to get to Qian Fei. In a burst of recklessness, she clinked her beer against his. "What’s there to be afraid of? Let’s go!"
The two of them gulped down another can.
After several rounds, the alcohol loosened their tongues along with their inhibitions.Li Yifei started acting shamelessly with Qian Fei again: "Hurry up and tell me, what's the deal with you and your ex-boyfriend!"
Qian Fei rolled her eyes at him, "Why don't you tell me about you and Gui Lili first!"
Li Yifei said, "Fine, I'll go first, and then you'll tell me yours!"
He took a few sips of alcohol and couldn't help complaining for the thousandth time, "Could this cheap swill possibly taste any worse?!"
He began telling Qian Fei about his past with Gui Lili.
"When I was abroad, young master here charmed countless people—men and women included!" He started off by elevating himself to great heights, making Qian Fei roll her eyes incessantly.
Even if he was indeed handsome, the fact that he could praise himself so unabashedly and with such relish was truly shameless.
"At that time, I was in the middle of breaking up with my then-girlfriend and feeling pretty empty inside when Gui Lili appeared. You've seen her—long flowing hair, long legs, fair skin, beautiful, the dream girl in many boys' hearts. Back when she was abroad, she wasn't like she is now. She was gentle, understanding, and utterly obedient to me, so young master here took her in. But when my dad came to visit me, he met Gui Lili once. That day, he was wearing a shabby tracksuit and looked a bit like a homeless man. I asked him why he was dressed like that, and he said it was because he'd been saving money to send me abroad for studies. I laughed. Up to that point, everything was still fine.
"But Gui Lili didn’t know he was my dad at the time and wasn’t very warm toward him. Later, the old man told me that Gui Lili was definitely no ordinary girl—that the reason she was so obedient to me now was because I was splurging the money he’d saved while wearing that shabby tracksuit, buying her clothes and gifts, making her life comfortable. He said that once the family stopped providing financial support, who knew how she’d treat me then. The old man insisted that Gui Lili wasn’t fit to be my wife and told me to break up with her. At the time, I thought it was utterly ridiculous—this wasn’t ancient times! Shouldn’t I be the one to decide whether she was suitable for me or not? What business did he have meddling across generations? Besides, I’ve had this unyielding habit since childhood—if the old man said left, I’d go right. Truth be told, I’d never even thought about marriage or anything that far ahead, but since he forbade me from marrying Gui Lili, I deliberately threatened him with it just to scare him.
"The old man said that if I didn’t break up with Gui Lili, he’d sever ties with me. He also said that without him, I’d amount to nothing, and when I hit rock bottom and went crawling back to him, he wouldn’t even spare me a glance. Young master here has too much pride—how could I tolerate that? So I told him, ‘If you want to cut ties, then cut ties! I refuse to believe I can’t survive without you!’" He took another sip of alcohol. "Back then, the old man told me, ‘Don’t say I underestimate you—even if you can support yourself, you won’t be able to support that girl!’ I refused to accept that and said she was easy to take care of. The old man called me blind, and we got into a huge argument—so huge he almost had a heart attack. After that, we completely severed our relationship! Looking back now, I really was pretty blind!"
After finishing, he turned to look at Qian Fei, who was staring at him dumbfounded.
"What’s with that look?"Qian Fei smacked her lips, "Why does this feel like watching some cheesy Korean drama to me! Your dad scrimped and saved until he was practically a homeless man just to send you abroad for studies, and you cut ties with him? Don’t you think that’s a bit unfilial?"
Li Yifei snorted, "You really are a professional do-gooder, meddling in everyone’s business! Don’t take his words at face value! The old man has his own stash of money!"
Qian Fei asked, "What does your dad do?"
Li Yifei replied, "He’s self-employed."
Qian Fei pressed, "Business good?"
Li Yifei said, "It was doing well a few years back, but there have been some issues in the last year or two."
Qian Fei went "Oh," then added, "Your dad’s had it tough then, managing to send you abroad as a small business owner, and here you are causing him trouble. I think you’re in the wrong here!"
Li Yifei retorted, "Our family matters are complicated, so spare me your concern!" He nudged her, "Don’t just listen without contributing—your turn now!"
Qian Fei’s mind was already slowing down, "So... that’s it for your story?"
Li Yifei said, "Yeah, that’s it! What else do you want to hear? The rest—you already overheard when I was arguing with Gui Lili. Just piece it together yourself for the grand finale!"
Qian Fei shook her head, "No! What I meant was—with things so bad between you and your dad, doesn’t your mom step in? Doesn’t she mediate between you two?"
She saw Li Yifei’s expression darken instantly.
"My mom passed away when I was little."
Qian Fei’s heart sank.
Suddenly, she remembered what she’d said when she’d slapped him before—
—"Li Yifei, no matter how spoiled you are at home, around here, cut the damn cursing! You have a mother too—would you want her dragged into conversations like this?"
She recalled the waves of nostalgia and sorrow swirling in his eyes then.
Qian Fei suddenly felt her words that day had been too harsh.
"Sorry about that," she murmured.
"What?" Li Yifei asked, puzzled.
"Nothing!" She shook her head. "Actually, my mom passed away when I was in college too."
Li Yifei looked at her, his gaze softening.
"To shared sorrows, then—cheers!" He raised his beer can.
Qian Fei clinked hers against his, tilting her head back to down it in one go.
Maybe it was the alcohol taking effect, but her emotions were starting to spiral out of control—she felt her eyes growing damp.
She wiped her face with her hand and said to Li Yifei, "Let me tell you my story—guaranteed to leave you sleepless with its twists and turns!"
She recounted everything between her and Wang Ruohai from start to finish.
She’d never shared these details with anyone before. She thought those memories with Wang Ruohai would rot inside her forever. After the breakup, she tried to deliberately forget the past, believing it was the only way to stop the heartache. She forced herself to smile through each day, to not dissolve into tears over songs they’d once listened to together, reminiscing about the good old days and regretting the failed relationship. She refused to live like some bitter, jaded woman.
Until this night, sharing drinks and conversation with a tenant she barely knew, did she realize—she hadn’t forgotten a single thing. Every memory was still there.She couldn't help feeling sad. She had worked so hard, thinking she had already shed these emotional shackles, but she never expected she was just deceiving herself—she hadn't forgotten anything at all.
After finishing her story, she looked at Li Yifei and asked, "After hearing about my mess, do you feel much better? Because I'm way worse off than you, right?"
Li Yifei looked back at her and said, "Yeah, pretty rough. You even made yourself cry from how bad it is!"
Qian Fei sniffled twice. "I'm not usually like this. Why do I lose all composure when I drink?"
Li Yifei comforted her, "You're allowed to lose it after a breakup. Otherwise, you'll never truly move on."
Qian Fei laughed through her tears. "How did this turn into you comforting me?"
Li Yifei said, "Actually, you're still the one comforting me. When someone's feeling miserable, seeing someone else even more miserable is an incredibly rare and priceless comfort."
Qian Fei suddenly found herself unable to cry anymore.
That night, the two of them drank who knows how much. At one point, Li Yifei even went downstairs to buy more. What he brought back was imported beer, and after just one sip, Qian Fei understood why he had been complaining about the previous alcohol tasting awful.
They ended up finishing the newly bought drinks without even realizing it. They rambled on about all sorts of nonsense, and Qian Fei felt that, given her dizzy and muddled state, she wouldn’t even need to wait until the next day—within an hour, she’d forget everything she’d said in the past sixty minutes.
In her daze, she suddenly felt the urge to vomit. Following the principle of proximity, she rushed to the bathroom Li Yifei used. But the moment she pushed the door open, she wanted to cry.
Could this place possibly be any messier?!
Suppressing the bile rising in her throat, she forced herself to stagger to her own bathroom. Seeing her frantic and disoriented state, Li Yifei followed her in, worried she might bump into the door. As she retched violently, he pinched his nose in disgust and patted her back.
"Your tolerance is seriously lacking," he said, though his own words were slightly slurred.
Qian Fei turned her head weakly and glared at him indignantly. "Li Yifei! How can your bathroom be such a disgusting pigsty that it kills even my urge to vomit?! And you have the nerve to call yourself a neat freak!"
She fumbled for a cup to rinse her mouth.
Once she was done, Li Yifei hauled her up, trying to guide her to bed. "You're in no state to worry about my bathroom! Just rest already. If it bothers you so much, clean it for me tomorrow!"
Qian Fei had had enough. She spat right in his face, flailing her arms. "You really think you're some young master, don’t you?! I’m your landlord! My status is way more noble and lofty than yours, got it?!"
Li Yifei dumped her onto the bed. "Just sleep it off!"
But Qian Fei’s hands were still clutching his arm, dragging him down with her until he landed right on top of her.
For a split second, their faces were unbearably close—Li Yifei almost kissed her.
Qian Fei mindlessly swatted at his face. "Wang Ruohai, get lost! What kind of cheesy drama scene are you pulling in the middle of the night?! This lady needs to sleep!"Li Yifei was momentarily stunned. He scrambled up and looked at Qian Fei sprawled out on the bed like a starfish, utterly convinced that the tiny, minuscule illusion he'd had earlier—that she actually looked quite pretty, especially her pink, moist lips—was absolutely, without a doubt, the effect of alcohol! He thought that even if he'd fallen on top of a sow earlier, he might have found its pink little snout somewhat appealing in his drunken state!
He exhaled a long breath reeking of alcohol as he watched Qian Fei, who had already closed her eyes.
This woman was utterly hopeless—a super invincible tomboy beyond redemption!
"You, having been cheated on once already, should open your eyes wider and be more careful!" he muttered.
Qian Fei mumbled something incoherent and fell asleep.
By the time Qian Fei woke up the next day, it was already noon. She groaned, rubbing her throbbing head, feeling as though it might split in two. She swore to herself she'd never drink like that with anyone again.
After getting up and drinking a glass of water, she suddenly remembered that Li Yifei had said something to her before she fell asleep last night.
But what exactly had he said?
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't recall.
※※※※※※
After helping Qian Fei to bed, tucking her in, turning off the lights, and closing the door, Li Yifei returned to his own room.
He picked up his phone and saw countless missed calls from Dajun and several extremely agitated WeChat messages.
"You beast, finish what you started, ahhhhhh! You finally took a week off for me, don’t bail halfway through, ahhhhhh!!!!!! You promised to help me clear the level tonight, ahhhhhh! But where are you, ahhhhhh!!!!!!!"
"Animal, show yourself!!!! Don’t let all our efforts this week go to waste, ahhhhhh!!!!!"
"Li Yifei, you utter scoundrel!!!! If you don’t come out now, I’ll be sent back to square one!!!!!"
"Li Yifei, you’re nothing but livestock!!!! My gear got destroyed, ahhhhhh!!!! I’ll hate you for ten thousand years!!!!"
"Take another week off next week!!! Help me clear the level again!!!! Or! Else! We’re! Done!!!!"
Li Yifei lay down on his bed and leisurely typed out a reply.
"Then we’re done."
Author's Note: Giving out red envelopes again today~
Also, if I double-update tomorrow, will you leave comments and shower me with flowers?
Betting on my luck—first update tomorrow at 10:00 AM!!!!
OpenNovel