Chapter 4: Chapter 4: The Generous
On the plane to Pingyang City, a young couple sat on the left side of the second row in the First-Class Cabin. Both were around twenty-five or twenty-six years old. The man was dressed in a crisp suit, his hair neatly arranged, presenting a very handsome and dapper appearance, with a sharply chiseled face that also exuded a strong masculine charm, suggesting he was a successful individual.
The woman was dressed fashionably and elegantly, in a tight-fitting designer velvet top, with big wavy hair, a melon-seed-shaped face, and large eyes that were exceptionally expressive. But they carried a hint of aloofness and helplessness, which, however, could not hide her extraordinary beauty—she was undoubtedly a super beauty.
These two were Li Yifei and Xu Yingying. This morning, Xu Yingying took Li Yifei to buy a high-end suit and get his hair styled. Li Yifei looked indeed radiant and quite the part of a successful individual now, to Xu Yingying's satisfaction. She thought bringing such a man home would probably solve a lot of problems.
Xu Yingying also took off her glasses, which were actually meant to conceal her appearance rather than to correct any nearsightedness. Now that she was going home, there was no need to wear them.
But after sitting in the plane for a while, Xu Yingying's brows furrowed. Li Yifei kept fidgeting, touching this and that like a child. She took a deep breath and said, "Li Yifei, can you stop looking around like that? Haven't you ever been on a plane before?"
Li Yifei reached up to rub his hair but suddenly remembered it was freshly styled and hastily dropped his hand, chuckling, "President Xu, I really haven't been on a plane before. I'm quite nervous, you know. I mean, what if the plane were to fall out of the sky?"
"Don't call me President Xu, call me by my name," Xu Yingying glared at Li Yifei. She didn't raise her voice much, but it carried an undeniable authority.
"Oh right, I'm your boyfriend now, Yingying." Li Yifei chuckled awkwardly, his smile somewhat forced.
"Just remember this, you can get it wrong now, but if you let anything slip in front of my family, hmph!"
"Xu... Yingying..." Under Xu Yingying's piercing gaze, Li Yifei managed to correct himself before he finished saying "President", "This identity change is really too much for me. Yesterday, I was just a security guard at your company, and today I'm suddenly your boyfriend. You have to give me some time to adapt."
"You only have the time on this plane to adapt. Also, as far as safety is concerned, planes are the safest form of transportation. You don't need to be nervous."
"Oh, then... I'll try my best." Li Yifei still seemed nervous, and his reply was clearly half-hearted.
Because she focused solely on her career, Xu Yingying hadn't had a boyfriend up to this point. Returning home for the New Year had been fine the past two years, but lately, her parents and relatives had been pestering her with personal questions, badgering her to the point of annoyance. She had no intention of finding a boyfriend before turning thirty, but her parents disagreed. Before she went home, they had already told her that they had arranged several match-meeting opportunities, just waiting for her to come back for blind dates.
Blind dates were exactly what Xu Yingying dreaded most. The idea of two complete strangers suddenly coming together for the purpose of dating seemed like torture. Hence, on her friend's suggestion, she hastily enlisted Li Yifei to pose as her boyfriend, hoping to avoid a lot of hassle.
However, the moment they were on the plane, Xu Yingying felt frustrated. Li Yifei was like a bumpkin who had never seen the world, even asking questions that seemed rather small-minded and unsophisticated, which made her quite dissatisfied. But now it was too late to find someone else, so she could only try her best to train this guy. As long as he could help her get through the few days of the New Year, that would be enough.
Li Yifei knew that Xu Yingying was upset and couldn't help but find it amusing. He had not only been on planes before but had also flown military helicopters. As a retired super special forces member from Huaxia, he had seen too much of the world. His feigned ignorance was all an act, otherwise, it wouldn't fit with his security guard cover.
"Go over these again, you can't forget them," Xu Yingying handed Li Yifei a few pages of notes she had put together the night before.
Li Yifei took it from her and glanced at it, immediately responding with a bitter smile, "There's so much information, how long will it take me to memorize all this?"
"I'm not asking you to memorize everything, but you have to at least familiarize yourself with it. The first page contains information about me, my parents, and my sister; you should start with that. You can look over the rest tonight."
"That's more like it." Li Yifei opened the document and started to read.
In the company or outside of it, Xu Yingying had many suitors trying hard to get her personal information. But to avoid unnecessary trouble, she rarely let her information out, and now outsiders only knew of her work history, while the rest remained a mystery to most.
However, now she was actively letting Li Yifei, a virtual stranger, look at it, which was a last resort.
Feeling slightly annoyed, Li Yifei turned his head and looked at her, his gaze landing directly on her chest, causing Xu Yingying to frown and say, "Behave yourself. Don't let me see any of those sly and shifty movements."
"Oh... let me take another look then." Li Yifei turned his head back, his gaze still fixed on her chest.
"You..." Xu Yingying felt an urge to tear him apart, having never encountered someone who dared to be so shameless in speaking to her.
"Don't be mad, I'm just adapting. You want me to pretend to be your boyfriend, and not just any kind, but one you'd bring home. If we aren't close, your parents won't believe it, right? So, getting familiar with your figure is necessary, isn't it?"
His words left Xu Yingying at a loss for words. She huffed, "Don't you know there's such a thing as a refined gentleman?"
"I do know, but do you really think that if you have me pretend to be that kind of gentleman, it won't give us away?"
"This..." Xu Yingying's chest heaved in frustration before she gave up. Trying to get someone without personal refinement to act like a refined gentleman was like trying to draw a tiger and ending up with a dog – it was better to let him be himself, "Fine, as long as we don't get caught, I can tolerate it."
"Hehe, I'm not taking any advantage of you. I'm just preparing for the worst. Getting past this potential mother-in-law isn't going to be easy, and the more I prepare, the easier it might be later."
"Not bad, it seems you're not that thick-headed after all."
Xu Yingying turned to look at Li Yifei, her gaze tinged with a hint of admiration.
"Thank you for the compliment, Yingying... I will strive to do even better," Li Yifei said, his face lighting up with excitement, somewhat like the pride of a subordinate who has been commended by a superior.