Love Has Fireworks

Emerging from the narrow alley, Qian Fei asked Li Yifei how much he had spent.

Li Yifei raised an eyebrow. "What, can you afford it?"

Qian Fei shivered. "I-Is it very expensive?"

Li Yifei waved a hand. "Forget it, since you can't afford it anyway, no point asking."

Qian Fei pressed, "Not even if I sold myself?"

Li Yifei took in her pitiful expression and gave her a once-over before bursting into laughter. "Well, if you doll yourself up like this, you might fetch the price of a few pounds of pork!"

Qian Fei seriously considered walking ahead and ignoring him—except she couldn't remember which side of the alley they'd entered from...

Seeing her carefully made-up face twist into a constipated expression, Li Yifei couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't worry about it. I have a membership card here with leftover credit. Today's bill just got deducted from that." He paused, then added thoughtfully, "Besides, it would've expired soon anyway."

Qian Fei eyed him skeptically. "There's an expiration date?" Weren't these places so exclusive that rich people begged to get in? Why would they need such aggressive sales tactics?

Li Yifei nodded solemnly. "The problem is Steve has a terrible memory. If too much time passes, he can't remember who has tens of thousands left on their cards. Makes accounting a nightmare!"

While Steve took this undeserved hit, Qian Fei felt Li Yifei was just showing off again.

On their way home, Qian Fei took Li Yifei to the market where they bought a large bag of eggplants. Surprisingly, after paying, Li Yifei actually volunteered to carry the groceries.

Qian Fei stared at him in disbelief. "I can almost guess what you're about to say!"

Li Yifei looked down his nose at her. "Oh? What would that be?"

Qian Fei scoffed. "Definitely something like: 'Let me tell you, this young master has never carried groceries for a woman before. Don't take this lightly—this is yet another first for me!'"

Her imitation was spot-on, making Li Yifei laugh.

"You're absolutely right! This really is the first time this young master has carried groceries for a woman. Don't just stand there grinning like an idiot—show some gratitude!"

Qian Fei rolled her eyes. "But why are you being so nice today?"

Li Yifei replied, "I was afraid you'd trip and drop my precious eggplants!"

Qian Fei itched to stab his mouth with her stiletto heel.

She should've known nothing good would come out of it.

●︶3︶●

That evening, Qian Fei chopped piles of eggplant strips and tossed them into the wok.

As she cooked, Li Yifei paced around her like a starving cat, constantly asking, "Is it done yet? When can we eat? I'm starving, you know?"

Qian Fei was both annoyed and amused. "How did you survive to adulthood? With such impatience, didn't anyone discipline you as a child?"

Li Yifei snorted. "Who would dare!" Leaning against the kitchen doorway with arms crossed, he watched Qian Fei wield the spatula before the induction cooker.

"Tsk tsk, I should've given you that makeover sooner! Watching a pretty back cook is much more pleasant than watching some disheveled hag."

At first, Qian Fei felt pleased—her attention immediately caught by the "pretty back" comment.

But upon reflection, her mood soured.So the pretty one was just a "back view," and that "disheveled, sallow-faced woman" seemed to be referring to her too...

Qian Fei turned her head angrily, brandished the spatula in her hand at Li Yifei, and said fiercely, "If you keep yapping without shutting up, I'll burn this whole pan of eggplant strips to a crisp!"

Li Yifei snorted, lifted his chin arrogantly, and strode off to the living room.

At dinner, Li Yifei devoured three full bowls of rice. When he reached for a fourth, Qian Fei was shocked.

"Bro, have you never eaten before? Are you trying to stuff yourself to death? Aren’t you afraid of turning into a pig and losing your good looks?"

At the last remark, Li Yifei’s expression darkened, and he set down his bowl and chopsticks.

But barely a second later, he picked them up again.

"I’ll just have half a bowl more! I’ll go for a run later!"

He scampered off toward the rice cooker...

Qian Fei watched his trajectory with tears in her eyes.

In her mind, Li Yifei at that moment was the very definition of a glutton.

After dinner, Li Yifei holed up in his room, tinkering with his computer for ages. While washing the dishes, Qian Fei yelled at him, "Didn’t you say you were going for a run?"

Li Yifei mumbled something indistinct in reply.

By the time Qian Fei had finished cleaning up and was about to read a bit before bed, someone knocked at the door.

Li Yifei rushed to answer it.

Several uniformed deliverymen carried in a massive contraption.

Li Yifei directed them, "Right here, just put it in the living room!"

Qian Fei walked over and asked, "What’s this?" Then, eyeing the deliverymen, she added, "You guys have no backbone, do you? Delivering something this late—aren’t you exhausted?"

The deliverymen laughed. "The customer is always God!"

Qian Fei scoffed. "But you shouldn’t spoil God’s bad habits!"

Li Yifei tugged at her. "Stop causing trouble. Can’t you see they’re installing a treadmill? Be sensible and let them finish so they can go home early."

Qian Fei was speechless. "You’ve got a real talent for twisting words, turning straight talk into nonsense! And by the way, did you even ask me before buying a treadmill? This is my living room! You really treat this place like your own home, don’t you?"

Li Yifei tossed his head. "In a couple of days, I’m planning to buy an ab machine too. That way, I won’t have to drag myself to the gym every weekend in this freezing weather!" He patted his stomach. "I’ve got to take measures to protect my six-pack from drowning in your cooking pot!"

Qian Fei shook her head, clicking her tongue. "So you admit you’re a glutton? I swear, you’re just throwing money away! Good thing your dad disowned you, or he’d die of rage at your spendthrift ways!"

Li Yifei acted as if he hadn’t heard her, completely ignoring her.

Once the treadmill was installed, he gleefully hopped on and started running. His smugness in the middle of the night was so infuriating that Qian Fei wanted to kick him off.

●︶3︶●

The next day was Christmas Eve. Qian Fei went to work with a brand-new look and received unanimous praise from her colleagues. Zhao De even exclaimed dramatically, "Feifei, as long as you don’t open your mouth, you’re practically on par with Assistant Gui!"

Qian Fei glanced at Li Yifei, who sat rigidly beside her with an expressionless face, and felt a pang of frustration at the compliment.

In the afternoon, Liu Yifeng handed Qian Fei some documents and asked her and Li Yifei to go to the top floor to verify some data with the general manager.

What happened next was nothing short of earth-shattering.When the elevator stopped midway, a young and talented man got on. His eyes lit up at the sight of Qian Fei, and he immediately struck up a conversation with her. He eagerly introduced himself, asked for her name, and even left his contact information while trying to get hers. But before Qian Fei could respond, the elevator reached the top floor. Li Yifei dragged her out with a cold, domineering air, muttering, "Stop dawdling, the general manager is waiting," leaving the hopeful young man staring longingly after them from inside the elevator.

Qian Fei couldn’t help but snap at Li Yifei, "You’re cutting off people’s romantic chances—you’re going to hell for this!"

Li Yifei gave her his signature lazy-eyed look and said mockingly, "You dare mess with a pretty boy drenched in cologne? I’m more worried he was actually eyeing me!"

Qian Fei nearly choked on his words.

His ego was so inflated he was even competing for her admirers now.

After finishing the data check, it was almost time to clock out. Li Yifei asked Qian Fei what she wanted for dinner. She declared grandly, "Tonight, we’re eating out! My treat—let’s celebrate Christmas Eve!"

Li Yifei raised an eyebrow. "The penny-pincher is splurging? That’s terrifying. What’s your angle? Just so you know, I’m not moving out."

Qian Fei rolled her eyes. "Look at you, calling yourself a young master—have you even seen the world? Getting scared just because I want to treat you to something nice!" She composed herself and said seriously, "I just wanted to thank you for dressing me up so well that I’m getting hit on now." She ended with a playful wink.

Li Yifei stared at her for two seconds before gagging. "Big sis, please never wink at me again. I feel like I just saw a drag queen."

In that moment, Qian Fei lost all desire to treat him to dinner.

(●︶3︶●)

Qian Fei asked Li Yifei what he wanted to eat. He said, "Since you’re poor, I won’t make you take me to some high-end imperial banquet. I’ll lower my standards by ten thousand steps—just treat me to Jin Qian Bao."

Qian Fei ignored him and took him to Han Na Shan instead.

As she grilled the beef, Li Yifei sat beside her, sipping free barley tea with the air of someone savoring premium Da Hong Pao, and grumbled, "If you weren’t going to listen to me, why even ask what I wanted?"

Without looking up, Qian Fei said, "Just pretend I farted."

Li Yifei choked on his tea.

Qian Fei added, "Can’t you at least help grill some meat? How shameless to just sit there waiting to be served!"

Li Yifei scoffed. "Young Master here has already stooped low enough living with you. Now you expect me to grill meat too? Besides, you’re the host—show some grace and stop nitpicking!"

Qian Fei was truly impressed. His sharp tongue could probably make the entire internet weep—men in silence, women in tears.

As they were finishing their meal, they overheard a group of girls at the next table gushing over celebrities.

Li Yifei curled his lip. "How childish."

Qian Fei stuffed a piece of meat into her mouth and mumbled, "Says the guy picking fights with random girls! And what’s so childish about liking celebrities? It’s totally normal. There’s one I’m absolutely crazy about!"Li Yifei curled his lips and asked, "Which celebrity do you like? What's their name?"

Qian Fei replied, "Da Peng! The host of 'Da Peng's Gossip Talk'! Zhao Benshan's 53rd disciple, the one who starred in 'Diors Man'!"

Li Yifei burst out laughing, "So you like the rural type? I've never even heard of this guy!"

Qian Fei's expression instantly darkened. "Li Yifei, if you dare say one more word, I'll either cut ties with you or take your surname!"

Seeing how serious she was, Li Yifei reined in his playful demeanor and asked earnestly, "Alright then, why do you like him?"

Qian Fei straightened up and said solemnly, "Because I find him truly inspiring. Do you know what he studied? He graduated from Jilin University of Architecture—his field had nothing to do with entertainment or performing arts. Yet, he worked his way up step by step from being a small-time drifter in Beijing, a nobody, to where he is today—a host, director, and actor! He got so many big-name stars to make cameos in 'Diors Man'!" She paused, struggling to articulate her feelings, then added, "You wouldn't understand. Every time I see him, I feel like the heavens don’t overlook those who work hard. If you just keep pushing forward—whether for your dreams or just to get by—you’ll eventually make something of yourself!"

Li Yifei watched her, eyes shining, and fell silent.

At this moment, he found Qian Fei somewhat captivating. She was naive, overly kind, and long-winded, but she lived earnestly, was moved earnestly, and admired every hardworking person with genuine appreciation.

Her fandom was so sincere that he could no longer call it "childish."

?

Author's Note: Thank you to all the beautiful readers who gifted thunder! Your encouragement means so much—sorry for making you spend money, bowing in gratitude >3<3

Hehe, I jumped around excitedly confessing my love to Da Peng on Weibo, but my rural heartthrob ignored me TT. But he did follow me back, so I’m already super happy, hehehe I’ve decided to go confess on his Weibo again later. Yep, that’s the plan— covers face !

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