Chapter 271 - Mengxin Returns

Chapter 271: Chapter 278: Mengxin ReturnsAt dinner, Li Yifei thought it was going to be like last time, with the two sisters secretly teasing him again, but today the sisters were surprisingly well-behaved and didn’t do anything to him, which made him let out a sigh of relief.

However, Li Yifei felt a sense of loss, as if deep down he had been looking forward to them teasing him.

He couldn’t help but mock himself, feeling utterly shameless for wanting such things even though he was clearly avoiding the sisters’ affections.

After dinner, Li Yifei proposed to leave again. This time, Xu Yingying didn’t try to stop him, and brought his shoes out for him, smiling and saying, "Sorry, I just wanted to eat the food you made, so I couldn’t let you go. You can’t blame me, okay?"

Li Yifei, caught between laughter and tears, said, "Then just say so. It’s not the first time I’ve cooked for you, what’s the big deal?"

Xu Yingying playfully blinked and said, "It’s different now, isn’t it?"

Li Yifei touched his nose and didn’t pick up on Xu Yingying’s comment, because he knew exactly what she was referring to—her mindset was different now.

At that moment, Xu Shanshan squeezed over and said cheerfully, "Brother-in-law, why don’t we go out and have some fun tonight?"

"No, I haven’t properly rested these last couple of days. I want to go home and get some good rest tonight."

Then, Xu Yingying, understanding as ever, said, "You should go back early and rest, then. I’ll find you at the office tomorrow."

Li Yifei really couldn’t handle Xu Yingying’s sudden change and quickly made his escape from her house.

Back home, Li Yifei tidied up a bit and was just about to shower when someone knocked on his door. As it was this late, it must be Meng Xiaofei. He promptly went to open the door, but surprisingly, it was Su Mengxin, whom he hadn’t seen for many days.

"When did you come back?" Li Yifei asked instinctively.

Dressed in a simple crew-neck T-shirt and a knee-length skirt, her attire was very casual, lacking the usual pomp, but offering a more approachable vibe. Holding a bag in her hand and smiling, she said, "I came over yesterday. What, aren’t you going to invite me in?"

Li Yifei chuckled, "Please, come in."

"This is for you." Su Mengxin entered and handed the bag to Li Yifei.

Li Yifei took it and saw another ten packs of cigarettes inside. He laughed, "You’re back at just the right time—my cigarettes were just about to run out."

Su Mengxin gave Li Yifei a look and said, "You smoke quite a lot. The last batch I brought for you would have lasted two months at one pack a day, but you’ve run out in just over a month."

Li Yifei lit a cigarette and said with a laugh, "I wouldn’t smoke that much myself, but I end up giving them away to friends and colleagues now and then, right?"

"Do they even know what these cigarettes are, or do they think they’re just some knock-offs?"

"Indeed, most don’t recognize their worth, but I did meet one person who knew exactly where these cigarettes came from."

Su Mengxin laughed softly, "Then you’ve got some explaining to do."

"Exactly."

The two chatted casually for a while, and Su Mengxin looked at Li Yifei, asking, "How have you been at the company recently? I hope you’re not feeling uncomfortable?"

Li Yifei replied with a wry smile, "Just a bit busy. I was actually thinking about taking it easy."

Su Mengxin smiled and said, "You’re watching over my assets for me; you’d be letting me down if you had too much spare time on your hands."

Li Yifei laughed, "You’re really stingy, trying to win me over with just a few packs of cigarettes."

Su Mengxin’s eyes sparkled as she said, "How about I give you the entire company? Then you’ll have nothing to complain about."

"Give me the whole company? Five hundred million?" Li Yifei’s eyes widened.

Laughing, Su Mengxin said, "If you still feel it’s not enough, I can invest more."

Li Yifei was startled and quickly waved his hands, saying, "No, no, I don’t want it. Last time it was just a mission; don’t think about repaying me or anything."

Su Mengxin shook her head and said, "Don’t worry, I know you’d feel uncomfortable. I consider you a good friend, so giving you a company to play with is normal, isn’t it?"

Li Yifei rubbed his nose and said, "To casually hand over five hundred million for someone to play with, only you can wield such a big brush. But I can’t handle that kind of pressure. Rather than that, you might as well kill me. Being the Human Resources Manager is already giving me a major headache."

Su Mengxin knew she had been a bit hasty. For someone like Li Yifei, who once he’s made a decision is not easy to change, but if she wanted to be with Li Yifei, it was absolutely unacceptable for him to settle for mediocrity. It seemed she would have to take it slow.

Su Mengxin was truly an exceptionally clever woman. Ever since arriving in Mile City, she had made it a point to learn about Li Yifei without ever revealing the slightest hint of her feelings for him. From what she observed over time, she knew that if she made her feelings known, Li Yifei would definitely be scared off. The disparity in their social statuses was too great; Li Yifei simply wouldn’t accept it.

So, she adopted a gradual approach, and moreover, she had to slowly bring about changes in Li Yifei until he reached the height where she could be with him in an honorable and justified manner. For this purpose, she couldn’t rush or pressure Li Yifei.

If she wanted to change Li Yifei, she had to instigate him into making changes on his own through some external factors. Now it seemed about the right time to do so.

"Alright, I won’t disturb your rest any further. I’m heading back." Although she really wanted to talk more with Li Yifei, she was afraid he might think otherwise, so Su Mengxin stood up to leave.

Li Yifei walked Su Mengxin to the door and with a smile said, "It’s rare for you to come back. I’ll treat you to breakfast tomorrow."

"Then I won’t be polite." Su Mengxin gave a happy smile, opened her apartment door, and walked in.

Li Yifei had no idea of Su Mengxin’s long-term considerations, so after seeing her out, he put away his cigarettes and hummed a tune as he went to take a shower. To smoke the kind of cigarettes only available to senior leaders of the Central Government was a great pleasure for Li Yifei. Just for this reason alone, he was very grateful to Su Mengxin.

Early the next morning, Su Mengxin came over to Li Yifei’s place. He had grown accustomed to her freeloading, so he simply cooked some porridge and fried some eggs, keeping it simple and without the need for any fancy preparations.

Su Mengxin seemed to enjoy the meal immensely, finishing a bowl of porridge and two fried eggs before happily wiping her mouth and putting down her chopsticks.

"Do you have any plans for this visit?" Li Yifei was still sipping his porridge when he casually asked Su Mengxin.

Su Mengxin loved watching Li Yifei eat with such a carefree manner. There weren’t many men who had the chance to dine with her, and those who did were terrified of making even the slightest mistake. So they would eat so carefully, nervously unlike Li Yifei, who made noise while drinking his porridge.

Upon hearing Li Yifei’s question, Su Mengxin looked up, smiled faintly, and said, "Nothing much, just came to see you and bring you a few cigarettes."

Li Yifei chuckled and said, "Now I owe you even more."

Su Mengxin felt slightly miffed in secret; what she had said was actually the truth. As busy as she was, even investing five hundred million here didn’t necessitate her to personally run around. She could only offer a tight-lipped smile in response, saying, "Well, having invested so much, I should come and check on things."

Li Yifei laughed softly and said, "True, otherwise if your five hundred million went down the drain, that would be a disaster. Oh, but it wouldn’t be a disaster for you. Five hundred million isn’t that big of a deal for you."

"Money might not be too much, but you’re not taking it seriously enough to help me watch over it, making me have to run over here myself. If you truly took it to heart to manage the company for me, I wouldn’t have to worry about this."

"I’m really not cut out for that. I’m already struggling as it is. If I became a CEO on top of that, it would literally be the death of me."

"Which means, I still have to come here myself."

Actually, Li Yifei found it somewhat baffling that Su Mengxin didn’t send someone else to look after her investment, but seeing her determination, he felt it wasn’t his place to comment further.

After finishing their meal, Su Mengxin said with a smile, "I’ll go to the office with you later, but don’t reveal my identity, okay? I just want to take a look around and avoid undermining Yingying’s authority,"

"No problem. Should I give President Xu and Director He a heads-up?"

"I’ve already informed them; we’ll just head over in a bit."

More than half an hour later, Li Yifei and Su Mengxin had arrived at the office. Su Mengxin was dressed in a standard white-collar suit, a white open-neck blouse on top, a tight knee-length pencil skirt below, sheer flesh-colored stockings on her legs, and a pair of black high-heeled sandals. She looked smart and capable.

What stood out the most was her appearance, her exceptional allure. As soon as she appeared at the company’s entrance, it caught the security guards by surprise. Seeing beauties like Xu Yingying, He Fangqing, and Michelle was already pleasurable for them, but with Su Mengxin, they realized a woman could be so breathtakingly beautiful, stunning enough to make one’s eyes widen and breath to stop.

Watching Su Mengxin and Li Yifei enter the lobby together, the guards finally snapped out of their daze.

"Who’s that beauty? She couldn’t be Manager Li’s girlfriend, could she?"

"That can’t be, right? Manager Li has been so close to President Xu recently. I saw President Xu hooking her arm through Manager Li’s just the other day."

"Maybe she’s a new recruit at our company?"

At that thought, the security guards almost drooled. If such a beauty was working in the building, just one glimpse of her each day could make their day incredibly better.