Qian Fei was taken aback. "What birthday? What gift?"
Li Yifei snorted, walked past her into his room, rummaged around for a bit, then came back out holding an iPhone 5 box. He handed it to Qian Fei and said, "I was planning to give this to you at the end of next month for your birthday, but your toilet probably couldn't stand me keeping it from you any longer!"
Qian Fei numbly accepted the phone box, looked at it, then panicked and tried to shove it back at Li Yifei. "Are you crazy? A five-thousand-yuan gift? Don't tell me you're trying to pay rent with this—I only take cash, not phones!"
Li Yifei cursed. "Stop being so suspicious! When have I ever skipped out on rent? It's just that when I got this iPhone 5 at the end of last year, you were practically drooling over it. I didn't want you embarrassing yourself ogling other people's phones in public, so I got you one to play with."
Qian Fei was still shocked and uneasy. "It's too expensive. Even if you dare give it, I don't dare accept it!"
Li Yifei watched as she hunched her shoulders, holding out the phone box like a martyr ready to sever her own wrist, yet unable to hide the longing in her eyes. He found it amusing. "You really don't want it?"
Qian Fei took a deep breath and said firmly, "I do! I want it so bad I could cry! But if I want it, I should buy it myself. I can't just accept such an expensive gift for no reason!"
Li Yifei sighed inwardly.
What an honest, foolish girl. But compared to his past girlfriends—the ones who would beam like flowers, throw themselves into his arms, and sweetly kiss his cheek while cooing "You're so good" after receiving gifts like phones or necklaces—this honest fool made him actually want to treat her well.
Thinking quickly, he said, "Actually, this phone was confiscated by a friend of mine at customs. Somehow a few weren't logged, so he sold them cheap to people he knew. When I was on a business trip, I cracked my screen, so after landing, I went to buy a new one from him. Since they were so cheap—300 yuan for one, 500 for two—I figured I might as well get one for you too. So this gift isn't that expensive at all—it's cheaper than taking you out for a nice meal!" He paused, then pushed the box back into her arms. "Now dare to take it?"
Qian Fei hugged the box like a treasure, but after a moment, she looked up and declared, "Then I have to give you 250 yuan! If you don't take the money, I won't take the phone!"
Li Yifei's eye twitched. "So you're saying this phone is basically something you bought yourself? Meaning I still have to get you another gift?"
Qian Fei grinned and shook her head. "No need! This phone is still your gift to me. Without you, I'd never have had the chance to buy one for so little money!"
She happily carried the phone back to her room, then promptly came out and slapped 250 yuan into Li Yifei's hand.
Li Yifei, exasperated, dug a one-yuan coin out from between the couch cushions and tossed it at her. "Here's one yuan back! I refuse to be a 'two hundred fifty' with you!" (Note: "Two hundred fifty" is slang for "idiot" in Chinese.)
Qian Fei laughed. "You hide money in the couch?"
Li Yifei grumbled, "Hide your ass! It fell in there when I was buying beer. I was too lazy to fish it out at the time."
●︶3︶●Qian Fei couldn't put down her new $250 phone. Since tomorrow was Sunday and she didn't have work, she wasn't in a hurry to sleep. She opened her laptop and searched for tutorials on Weiphone to learn how to transfer her contacts.
Fortunately, even though the screen of her water-damaged phone wouldn't turn on, it still responded when connected via USB cable.
After fiddling around for quite a while, Qian Fei finally managed to transfer all her contacts to the new phone and downloaded many commonly used apps.
She was happily playing with her new phone when a WeChat message popped up.
Li Yifei asked: "Still awake?"
Qian Fei replied: "Yeah, just finished transferring contacts~"
Li Yifei: "Perfect, help me transfer mine too."
Qian Fei: "Bring your phone over~"
Li Yifei handed her both his new phone and the one with the cracked screen. In no time, Qian Fei not only transferred his contacts but also his messages and memos to the new device.
Li Yifei clicked his tongue in admiration: "You really live up to the 'tough girl' nickname, even knowing how to flash ROMs like those nerdy guys!"
Qian Fei huffed and shooed him away: "Is that how people give compliments in your village? Get out!"
Li Yifei lingered, refusing to leave. "I bet this is exactly how they'd praise a girl like you in Zhongguancun!" He clapped his hands and said, "Wipe everything from the cracked phone for me, I'll give it to a friend to disassemble for parts." As he gave instructions, he paced around the room, his eyes wandering until they landed on something by the bed that a proper gentleman shouldn't stare at - two rounded shapes. Li Yifei narrowed his eyes, instinctively making calculations. He'd always thought she was a B-cup, but her true bosom buddy turned out to be a C.
Hearing Qian Fei speak beside him, he rubbed his ear and casually averted his gaze.
Qian Fei snorted, "Young master, could you and your friend be any more spoiled? Just replace the cracked screen instead of taking it apart for fun! Does your family know how wasteful you are?"
Li Yifei scoffed: "Since when does he control me?" He continued strolling around Qian Fei's room as he spoke.
After finishing with his phone, Qian Fei became engrossed with her own device, not bothering to look up as she said, "Didn't you say you were tired and wanted to rest earlier? Why are you still taking a stroll in my room?"
Li Yifei stopped before a cardboard box in the corner, spotting a photo album at the bottom. He bent down to pick it up. "Since I'm already here, let's chat for a bit."
Still playing with her phone, Qian Fei asked, "So who pays whom?"
After a long silence with no response, she grew puzzled and looked up to find Li Yifei.
When she saw him standing in the corner flipping through that album - the one she least wanted to touch - Qian Fei shot up from her chair and rushed over, snatching it away.
"How can you just rummage through other people's things?" Her tone was uncharacteristically sharp.
Li Yifei looked down at her, his expression unreadable except for a faintly mocking curl of his lips. "Is that your cheating ex-boyfriend in there? Even after he dumped you, you still keep these photos?"
Qian Fei was furious. "None of your business!""You're not still thinking about that guy, are you?" Li Yifei narrowed his eyes and asked.
Qian Fei grew even angrier. "None of your business!"
"Qian Fei, have some self-respect!" Li Yifei widened his eyes, an inexplicable hostility surfacing on his face.
"None of your business!" Qian Fei pushed him toward the door, then walked back to the desk. She picked up his phone and casually grabbed a ten-yuan bill from the pile of spare change on the table. Returning to Li Yifei, she shoved the phone into his hand. "Take your phone!" Then she threw the money at him. "Here's ten yuan. Conversation over. Goodbye!" With that, she slammed the door shut with a loud "bang."
Li Yifei clutched the ten-yuan bill, seething with anger, almost tempted to smash her door down.
The phone in his hand suddenly vibrated.
He glanced at it—it was Dajun calling.
He walked back to his own room, closed the door, and answered the call.
"Hey, man, yesterday you said your phone screen was cracked and urgently asked me to buy two iPhone 5s for you. I thought you and Jin Tian were getting matching couple phones. But today, Jin Tian told me you've officially made her your 'little sister'? What's going on? Who's the other phone for? Not for that tomboy, is it?"
Still fuming from being kicked out and humiliated with ten yuan by Qian Fei, Li Yifei snapped back irritably, "Yeah, I gave it to her. So what? None of your business!"
Dajun choked back. "Hey, if you gave it to her, fine. I wasn’t stopping you. Why so aggressive?"
Li Yifei remained curt. "I’m being aggressive. None of your business!"
Dajun matched his tone. "Damn it, Li Yifei, did you swallow gunpowder or what?"
Li Yifei sneered coldly. "The only person in our circle who could remotely be called my 'uncle' is your dad! And whether I swallowed gunpowder or not—none of your business!"
Dajun was now furious. "Damn you, Li Yifei! You insulted my dad! I’m cutting ties with you!"
Li Yifei continued sneering. "You insulted your dad yourself. Go cut ties with yourself then!"
Dajun was nearly in tears from frustration. "Li Yifei, what the hell is wrong with you tonight?"
Li Yifei remained indifferent. "None of your business!"
Dajun finally lost it. "Li Yifei, go to hell! I’m done with you!"
With that, he angrily hung up.
Li Yifei felt the pent-up frustration in his chest dissipate somewhat. Turns out, having someone to vent at when you're angry is quite satisfying. And saying "none of your business" when you're extremely upset feels incredibly good.
Then he paused.
That damn girl had said "none of your business" so many times—just how upset had she been? Could she really still not have gotten over that cheating ex-boyfriend of hers?
He was too agitated to sleep.
●︶3︶●
Qian Fei threw the photo album into a cardboard box.
Truth be told, she had completely forgotten about this album. She had no idea how Li Yifei had even found it.
She also didn’t understand why she had gotten so angry seeing him flipping through it. After some thought, she realized it was because he had barged so carelessly into a past she’d rather forget, giving her no time to prepare.
She kicked the box further into the corner, vengefully thinking that she’d burn the damn album the first chance she got.
●︶3︶●On Sunday, Li Yifei was out the entire day. At noon, Qian Fei texted him asking if he'd be back for dinner, but he didn't reply.
Qian Fei held back all afternoon until she couldn't take it anymore and sent another message: "Are you still mad about what happened yesterday?"
After a long while, her phone finally buzzed.
Li Yifei: "You think everyone's as carefree and forgetful as you?"
Qian Fei: "But you were the one who went through my stuff first. How come you're angrier than me..."
Her phone stayed silent for a long time.
Qian Fei: "Why aren't you replying?"
No response.
Qian Fei sent another: "Why do you have such a bad temper?"
Still nothing.
Qian Fei tried again: "With such a terrible temper, do your friends even want to hang out with you?"
Silence.
Qian Fei happily continued: "Why no reply? So rude! Can we still play together happily in the future?"
This time, Li Yifei finally responded: "Qian Fei, are you a chatterbox? Can you give an angry person some space to be mad?"
Ignoring his remark, Qian Fei replied cheerfully: "The new phone works great! Thanks~"
A moment later, Li Yifei sent: "I want stir-fried eggplant strips for dinner!"
Followed immediately by another text: "And I'm not doing the dishes afterward!"
Qian Fei: "Okay ^_^"
●︶3︶●
Dajun noticed Li Yifei's lips curling into a strange angle as he put down his phone—an expression that could only be described as "secretly delighted."
Dajun was shocked.
"Damn! What did that tomboy send you? Yesterday you were taking it out on me! This morning you were angrily dragging me out for drinks! Just now you were fuming and refusing to reply! How did she instantly defuse your temper?! I need to see what she sent!"
Before Li Yifei could react, Dajun snatched the phone, opened WeChat, and skimmed through the messages at lightning speed.
"Damn! Just one compliment about the phone and you're all smiles with no temper left? Li Yifei, you bastard! Have some dignity!"
Li Yifei suddenly found the last sentence familiar—it was exactly what he'd said to Qian Fei yesterday.
He grabbed his phone back and snapped, "Piss off! None of your business!" Then paused.
The tomboy had replied the same way to him yesterday.
He couldn't help but laugh and shake his head.
Indeed, dignity comes from within. Who you choose to lose your dignity with is your own business—what does it have to do with others?
He picked up his phone and typed: "I want stir-fried eggplant strips for dinner!"
After some thought, feeling that reconciling so easily would hurt his pride, he viciously added: "And I'm not doing the dishes afterward!"
Sent.
An almost instant reply: "Okay ^_^"
His lips curled up again.
Beside him, Dajun yelped as if stepped on: "Li Yifei, you bastard! Don't tell me you're doing the dishes after every meal now? This is too much—I'm gonna lose it!"
Li Yifei looked at him expressionlessly and nodded.
Dajun clutched his head and started banging it against the wall...
Author's Note:
Not much to say today, just—
Should we have a kiss in the next chapter...Leave a comment with 25+ characters + rate 2 points + content related to the article = receive points redeemable for VIP chapters; 25 characters = 1 point, longer comments earn more points ^_^
Thanks to all the generous beauties for your gifts and support! I truly appreciate your kindness. As repayment, I'll keep up daily updates even during my tough business trips. Mwah to you all!
Oh, and no more asking—I'm female. There are hardly any male authors on JJWXC anyway (╯_╰)
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