Liu Yifeng had Qian Fei start with the simpler sections of the prospectus, assigning her to draft the issuer's background and historical evolution. Qian Fei had excellent writing skills—her phrasing was concise and precise, and she had a thorough grasp of every detail in the supporting documents, which meant she also understood the company inside out. She completed the task brilliantly in no time. After reviewing her work, Liu Yifeng expressed great satisfaction and then casually asked, "How are you with financial matters?"
Qian Fei replied modestly, "I studied it in school but never took the CPA exam. Still, I can analyze financial statements and the like without any issues!"
Liu Yifeng nodded at her. "Good. You’ll join the meeting later to discuss the financial details."
Qian Fei’s heart swelled with excitement—it felt like she’d won the lottery.
She was finally getting closer to the core of the project!
Silently, she reflected that she owed much of her progress to Li Yifei’s guidance. The thought made her reconsider—maybe she could let him keep freeloading meals for a little while longer.
※※※※※※
Since Hu Zining had been away on business again for some time, Qian Fei had little to do on weekends. This particular weekend, she had planned to stay home reading during the day and cook a few elaborate dishes in the evening to properly thank Li Yifei for helping her finally break into the project’s core. But at noon, she unexpectedly received a call from Xiaoyuan.
Xiaoyuan shared some news: "Feifei, Director Kong fell down the stairs yesterday and broke his leg. Sister Jin got word, and our back-office service team visited him this morning. I don’t think anyone in your project department knows yet! Sister Jin is out of town, but she asked me to tell you—maybe you could buy a flower basket and go see Director Kong?"
Qian Fei thanked Xiaoyuan and hung up.
She understood Sister Jin’s intention—she owed her spot in the project team to Director Kong’s recommendation.
At the same time, she felt especially grateful to Sister Jin for always looking out for her.
It seemed her luck had turned around over the past six months—everything was moving in a positive direction. Not only was her career on track, but she also had people like Sister Jin—and, well…
The thought of that arrogant young master abruptly cut off her train of thought.
She got dressed to head out, passing through the living room where Li Yifei was sprawled on the sofa like a lazy worm, watching TV.
Noticing her, he casually called out, "Going out?"
Qian Fei hummed in acknowledgment.
Li Yifei sat up. "So when are you coming back? Weren’t you supposed to cook me a feast today as thanks? I turned down several social engagements just for your so-called 'hard dishes'!"
Qian Fei slipped on her shoes by the door. "Our boss broke his leg—I’m going to visit him. I’ll be back before dinner, don’t worry."
Li Yifei studied her. "You’re going empty-handed?"
Qian Fei said, "I’ll stop by a florist to buy a flower basket."
Li Yifei waved a hand. "Hold on." He got up, shuffled into his bedroom in slippers, then shuffled back out and handed her a bottle of mineral water.
The label was covered in foreign text—Qian Fei couldn’t read a single word, but she guessed it was French.
"Take this. Might come in handy," Li Yifei said.Qian Fei stared at the mineral water bottle with a puzzled look. "Are you showing off your wealth to me? Trying every way to tell me what kind of water you usually drink?"
Li Yifei smirked with a hint of annoyance. "Don’t think I prepared this for you? Young Master here pities delicate flowers!" He shook his head and sighed at Qian Fei’s confusion. "I wonder why I’ve become so kind-hearted lately, even putting up with someone as clueless as you! Just take this bottle of water—I guarantee you’ll need it on the way!"
After saying that, he flopped back onto the sofa like a big, annoying caterpillar that deserved to be squashed and continued watching TV.
Qian Fei figured a bottle of water wasn’t heavy, so she stuffed it into her bag.
She bought a flower basket at the florist and hailed a cab straight to the hospital.
It was a Sunday, and the roads were packed. The moment she got into the car, they hit traffic. After nearly an hour stuck in the jam, they still hadn’t arrived. She glanced down at the flowers in her arms—the dewdrops that had once made them look fresh had long dried up, and now, under the blast of the car’s AC, the delicate blooms were well on their way to wilting.
She couldn’t help but feel anxious. Bringing such droopy flowers to visit a patient would look terrible.
Just then, her phone pinged. She picked it up—it was a WeChat message from Li Yifei: "Stuck in traffic, huh? Flowers wilting? Starting to panic?"
Qian Fei felt Li Yifei’s punchability level skyrocket at that moment.
She replied: "Looking to die?"
Another "ding" followed. Li Yifei: "Why so impatient? Can’t you let me finish? You’ve got that bottle of water with you—use it!"
Suddenly, Qian Fei remembered the water in her bag.
She immediately pulled it out, unscrewed the cap, poured some into her palm, and gently sprinkled it over the flowers.
The driver, watching from the front seat, couldn’t help but exclaim, "Hey, not bad! You’ve got tricks up your sleeve!"
Qian Fei grinned at him.
After visiting Director Kong at the hospital, Qian Fei was in such a good mood that she bought two extra dishes beyond her original plan.
While she was washing and chopping vegetables, Li Yifei sidled up and asked, "So? How’d visiting your boss go today?"
Qian Fei nodded. "Pretty well!"
Li Yifei shamelessly ruffled his hair. "Aren’t you going to praise Young Master here for his brilliant foresight or something?"
Qian Fei rolled her eyes but couldn’t resist asking curiously, "How did you know there’d be traffic? And how did you think to tell me to bring water? You don’t even wash dishes normally—how do you know these things?"
Li Yifei laughed smugly. "These are just basic survival skills for a rich second-generation Beijing native! I’ve been around this city since I was a kid—you think I wouldn’t know where and when the worst traffic hits? As for the water trick, I learned that from some old geezer’s secretary."
Qian Fei paused her chopping and straightened up to look at him. "Tsk tsk! You just can’t go a day without playing the rich second-gen act, can you?" As she spoke, she tossed a bag of carrots at him. "Enough nonsense—go wash these. I need them for the fish stew later!"
Li Yifei fumbled to catch the carrots, scowling in displeasure. "Qian Fei, that’s enough! Forcing me to buy groceries and do dishes is already pushing it—don’t even think about making me wash vegetables too!"
Qian Fei waved her gleaming knife at him. "Are you washing them or not?"Li Yifei let out a "Damn," as he walked to the sink. "Let me tell you, this is the first and last time! Don't even think about asking me to wash vegetables for you again! If you dare boss me around in the future, don't blame me for being impolite!"
Qian Fei chopped through the vegetables with the knife, the blade hitting the cutting board with a loud "clang clang clang." "Li Yifei, do you think if I chop this fast, the knife might slip and fly straight at you by accident?"
Li Yifei fell silent on his end, leaving only the cheerful sound of running water as he rinsed the carrots.
※※※※※※
After a busy period, the hotel project entered its guidance phase. Liu Yifeng seemed to have secured another project through his connections with classmates.
Liu Yifeng was extremely satisfied with Qian Fei's follow-up work on the hotel project, praising her as someone who could get things done properly. When he took on the new project, he even specifically asked Qian Fei if she wanted to work on it with him.
How could Qian Fei refuse? She was practically over the moon.
And so, she followed Liu Yifeng into another project team, working on the IPO for a company in the CBD.
Coincidentally, they were once again joint sponsors with Li Yifei's company.
When Liu Yifeng handed the company materials to Qian Fei, he said, "We'll start due diligence the day after tomorrow. You already know the people from the partner company—aren’t you quite familiar with Li Yifei and Zhao De? I think our two teams already have great synergy. With a bit more coordination, we should wrap up the on-site work quickly!"
Qian Fei took the materials and skimmed through them.
After reading, her heart skipped a beat.
Talk about coincidence—this was beyond coincidence! This company turned out to be the very place where Gui Lili worked.
Qian Fei suddenly felt that the days ahead would be full of unpredictable twists and colorful drama.
※※※※※※
That evening at home, Qian Fei asked Li Yifei if he knew they’d be working together on another project.
Li Yifei said he did. "Just thinking about having to spend every day with you again makes me feel like life has nothing more to offer."
Qian Fei asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Li Yifei replied, "It means life is utterly boring, dummy!"
Qian Fei said, "Why don’t you move out, huh? Go find a smarter landlord!"
Li Yifei asked, "What’s for dinner tonight? Can we skip fish? I feel like something light—how about stir-fried pork with green peppers?"
Qian Fei unwittingly got sidetracked. "Pfft! You call stir-fried pork 'light'? It literally has 'fried pork' in the name!"
Amid the bickering, Qian Fei went to prepare dinner. As she scrubbed the pot, she grumbled, "Listen up, Li Yifei, you better start looking for a place and move out ASAP!" Then she scooped rice from the bag into a bowl. After one scoop, she figured Li Yifei’s appetite had grown lately, so she added another scoop, muttering, "This lady is sick and tired of waiting on you!"
Meanwhile, Li Yifei was reluctantly washing green peppers, complaining under his breath, "I’m telling you, Qian Fei, this is the last time I’m doing chores!" As he finished washing the peppers, he absentmindedly grabbed a cucumber from another bag and started rinsing it too. "If you ever make me wash vegetables or do dishes again, just wait and see how I deal with you!"The two of them busily worked away at each other with gritted teeth, and by the end, Qian Fei had forgotten to ask Li Yifei that slightly silly question she'd been dying to ask: "You know what, kid? The company we're going to—it's actually run by your ex-girlfriend's new flame..."
Of course, that wasn't really the key issue. What she really wanted to ask was: "Li Yifei, are you okay?"
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