Chapter 71: What Was Left Behind

Chapter 71: Chapter 71: What Was Left BehindLi Yifei had forgotten all about Su Yiyi this week. As for doing such a good deed, he didn’t really take it to heart. However, when Su Yiyi arrived, he was still very happy, smiling and saying, "Why didn’t you spend the weekend with your classmates instead of running over here?"

Seeing that Li Yifei wasn’t blaming her for coming uninvited, Su Yiyi immediately looked up, her watery eyes gazing at Li Yifei, and said, "I just wanted to help Brother Li with some work."

"Well then, you can go to my room and see if there’s anything you can do. I still have work here and won’t be able to come over for a while."

"Okay!" Su Yiyi agreed and quickly walked into Li Yifei’s room.

Dong Chenghuai came over at this time, giving Li Yifei a thumbs-up, and said, "Manager Li, you are really awesome. I’ve been there so many times and have never encountered such a prime catch, and she looks like a student too."

Li Yifei patted Dong Chenghuai on the shoulder and said, "Brother Dong, let’s not bring this up with others again. She won’t be doing that kind of thing anymore. I don’t want to ruin her life."

Dong Chenghuai forced a dry laugh and said, "Of course, of course not. But I still want to remind you, even though she’s quite pretty, she’s also quite expensive to maintain, and in the end, don’t catch real feelings."

Li Yifei chuckled, "Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll be mindful of that. Come on, let’s get back to work."

That afternoon, everyone was clearly not very focused on their work, frequently glancing towards the door of Li Yifei’s room, as Su Yiyi would occasionally step out to hang laundry or such.

Even though it was still the end of February, and Mile City was quite cold, Su Yiyi was wearing a small apron across her chest, her sleeves rolled up, revealing arms as tender as young lotus roots. Especially when she was carrying a basin or hanging clothes, she really had the charm of a young wife. The dudes in the warehouse, who were used to seeing crude village girls, couldn’t keep their eyes off a girl like Su Yiyi.

In the late afternoon, Li Yifei finally got free and went straight back to his own room. At the door, Su Yiyi came up to him, holding a small brush, and swept it over Li Yifei, saying, "Brother Li, you should change out of these clothes too, and I’ll wash them for you."

Li Yifei glanced around the room and saw that it had completely transformed -- not only was it cleaner, but everything was also arranged in good order. Impressed by Su Yiyi’s diligence, he smiled and said, "No need for this set; this is just my work clothes. They’ll just get covered in dust again right after being washed."

"Oh, then I’ll just brush off the dust for you, don’t bring it inside." Su Yiyi said, standing by Li Yifei’s side, waiting for him to take off his clothes.

Li Yifei had to take off his clothes, and Su Yiyi immediately went outside to dust them off, then hung them on the clothesline outside before returning to the room and closing the door.

This immediately made the men outside drool, their minds filled with lewd fantasies about what Li Yifei and Su Yiyi were doing inside, whispering unsavory comments to satisfy their dirty thoughts.

However, Li Yifei and Su Yiyi were pure inside the room, very pure.

Li Yifei sat on a chair while Su Yiyi stood in front of him, her head down, twiddling her fingers, bashful and hesitant.

Li Yifei smiled and said, "Have a seat. You’ve been working so long, and still standing. I feel embarrassed."

With a soft voice, Su Yiyi responded and then sat on the edge of the bed.

"How’s your dad doing now?" Li Yifei indeed had a good impression of Su Yiyi, so he asked about her father to see if he had reined himself in after the last incident.

Su Yiyi pouted her lips and said, "He’s much better now, but they beat him quite badly. He lost two teeth and it took several days for the swelling in his face to go down."

Li Yifei laughed awkwardly. Those were not the work of those men; it had been him. However, listening to Su Yiyi, he knew that her father hadn’t disclosed it was Li Yifei who had done it.

"So he hasn’t been gambling these few days?"

"He probably hasn’t. I’ve been at school these days. But it sounds like he really wants to quit gambling."

"That’s not bad, then. You don’t need to worry too much. Just focus on your studies from now on."

"Mm-hmm, I will study hard," said Su Yiyi, nodding vigorously.

Li Yifei checked the time and said, "Let’s go, we’ll go out to eat. I’ll treat you to a simple meal in the cafeteria today; we still need to ship out goods later."

A smile emerged between Su Yiyi’s eyebrows as she said, "Okay, eating in the cafeteria sounds good."

When Li Yifei appeared in the cafeteria with Su Yiyi, everyone once again stared. Dong Chenghuai immediately said, "Manager Li, why didn’t you go out to eat? How can you have a meal with the low-quality food in the cafeteria?"

Li Yifei said, "No need, I still have things to do later, I’ll just grab a bite in the cafeteria."

There’s only one large dining table in the cafeteria. Usually, everyone gathers around it for meals, typically two dishes and a soup, but the servings are generous, so there’s no worry about not getting enough. Most here work very physically demanding jobs. If they don’t eat their fill, they won’t be able to handle the work."

Li Yifei and Su Yiyi sat together, and soon someone served them rice. Li Yifei nodded to Yiyi and started eating heartily, while Yiyi nibbled quietly, occasionally stealing glances at Li Yifei with a look that resembled a shy wife peeking at her husband, making the other men around them envious.

After finishing the meal, the truck arrived to pick up goods, and Li Yifei got busy. He had to say to Su Yiyi, "Yiyi, I’m too busy to walk you out. Take advantage of the daylight and head back early."

Just as Su Yiyi was about to say something, Li Yifei was already off to work. She pouted but didn’t leave; instead, she returned to Li Yifei’s room.

When Li Yifei finished his work, it was already past eight o’clock. As he entered his room, he saw Su Yiyi sitting on the bed, just having put down a book. He was surprised and said, "Why didn’t you leave?"

Su Yiyi’s face turned red, and she said shyly, "Today I wanted... to stay here and keep Brother Li company."

"Keep me company... You silly girl, haven’t I told you that I don’t need this kind of repayment?" Li Yifei shook his head, took off his jacket, and Yiyi hurriedly stood up to take it from him.

"It’s not repayment... it’s just... just..."

"Just what?" Li Yifei turned to look at her.

Yiyi bit her lip and then, mustering her courage, said softly, "It’s that I... want to stay by Brother Li’s side."

Li Yifei frowned slightly, wondering if this girl had really fallen for him. That would be quite troublesome. But seeing Su Yiyi’s pitiable look, he couldn’t bring himself to outright reject her and pretended to misunderstand, "You silly girl, it seems you’re really lacking paternal love. I only hugged you for one night, and you can’t forget it."

Su Yiyi had already wished she could vanish when she made her confession, not really knowing why she wanted to stay. Now that Li Yifei suddenly gave her a reason, it felt like a guiding light in the dark. She eagerly agreed, saying, "Yes, yes, my dad never really liked or cherished me since I was little."

Li Yifei patted Su Yiyi’s head and said, "Okay then, you can stay."

Su Yiyi immediately nodded bashfully and said softly, "Thank you, Brother Li."

"Don’t mention it. Let’s get some rest early."

"Okay, I’ll go prepare some warm water for Brother Li to wash his feet."

Soaking his feet in the steaming basin of water, Li Yifei felt truly comfortable and said to Su Yiyi with a smile, "Yiyi, whoever marries you is really fortunate. You take such good care of people."

Yiyi’s face turned red and she stammered, "I... I don’t want... to marry anyone else."

Li Yifei wisely decided not to take that further. If he asked her, "If you don’t marry anyone else, then who will you marry?" Yiyi might just outright say she’d marry him. She was indeed a good girl, but he couldn’t bear that kind of love, so he quickly changed the subject.

"By the way, tell me about life at your university. I never went to college, and I do long to hear about it," he said.

Su Yiyi felt somewhat disappointed. She had grown up receiving much unwanted attention from men, and many male students had pursued her in college, some quite excellent. However, because of her family situation, she dared not accept their advances, and she always felt these people were only attracted to her looks, without really understanding her. With Li Yifei, however, even though they had spent just one night together, she found a strong sense of security in him. The fact that they shared a bed and Li Yifei didn’t try anything made her extremely grateful.

This gratitude eventually turned into fondness, into love. After just one night, Yiyi found herself unable to forget Li Yifei, knowing she had truly fallen in love with him, Brother Li.

Yiyi was a reserved girl, always careful around boys, but with Li Yifei, she dared to think about living with him, which made her blush just thinking about it. Yet, she couldn’t suppress the thought, so she boldly decided to stay the night.

Li Yifei not continuing the topic made her feel lost, yet it also relieved many of her worries. If she had revealed her feelings and he had rejected her, she wouldn’t know what to do. Now she simply spoke softly to Li Yifei about university life.

Aside from her studies, Yiyi rarely participated in any other activities, so her description of college life was less than exciting.

After talking for a while, Yiyi stood up, fluffed the blanket, turned on the electric blanket, and twisting her fingers, said softly, "Brother Li, you had a hard day. You should... go to bed early."

Li Yifei’s heart stirred at this. Didn’t the girl realize how tempting she was?