"Are you sure you don't want to wait until Zhi arrives?" Dai Bolin asked the two teenagers.
"Haha, we can still meet him at the school tomorrow. We can visit you, and that's already enough," Li Caiyi replied.
"She's right, Sir. I hope you have a fast recovery, and please take care of your body well," Meng Renshu added.
"Thank you. It's been a while since I last talked to youngsters like you. Everyone in the hospital is old and cranky already. I had a good time today. Please do visit me again in the future."
"Yes, we will come again next time. Then we will take our leave now. Good afternoon, Sir." Li Caiyi bowed slightly.
"Father, I will send them out for a bit." Dai Shenqiang said while putting on his jacket.
"Yeah, go with them."
Dai Shenqiang accompanied both of them to the ground floor. He thanked both of them for visiting and later stared at Meng Renshu expectantly.
"Big Brother Meng, about earlier…."
Meng Renshu quickly interceded before he could say anything else. "I understand. Don't worry too much and take care of your father well."
After hearing that, Dai Shenqiang felt more reassured now, so he nodded his head. "Thank you. Be careful on your way."
After Dai Shenqiang walked away, Li Caiyi glanced at Meng Renshu, feeling that this was the correct time to ask him. However, before she could utter a word, Meng Renshu had beaten her to it first.
"I have some business I need to take care of after this. Can you go home by yourself first?"
If Li Caiyi hadn't known about his conversation with Dai Shenqiang earlier, she probably would leave first, even without him asking. But not this time.
"What kind of business do you have to be in such a hurry?" Li Caiyi taunted him.
Meng Renshu smirked flirtatiously. "Are you suddenly feeling lonely now that I tell you to go first? So you like the feeling of being chased more. Such a tease you are."
Li Caiyi showed an utterly disgusted expression on her face, making Meng Renshu chuckle in amusement.
"Haha, okay, I'll stop teasing you. It's a personal business of mine, not of any importance at all."
"If it's not important, then why can't you just tell me?"
Meng Renshu stared at Li Caiyi strangely. "You are unusually curious today. It's a bit suspicious. Since when did you care about my affair?"
'I don't care about your affair. I care about the news regarding Dai Zhiqiang!' Li Cayi was tempted to say that but felt like it would only narrow down the chance of getting more information out of Meng Renshu, so she switched it with a milder sentence.
"You don't have to act any more in front of me. I already know everything. You planned to go to the Zhiqiang workplace, right?"
Meng Renshu fell silent for a while, but he didn't look surprised. "It seems the younger brother is not a good secret-keeper. Well, my plan is busted now."
Li Caiyi snorted. "How can you hide such an important thing from me? You know I have been worried sick about him, too."
"Why do you care so much about him, anyway? You might be friends, but you haven't been acquainted that long with him for you to act like this." Meng Renshu's tone became several degrees colder than the previous one. His eyes narrowed down in a sharp gaze. "There is no need for you to get involved. You can just leave everything to me."
"Brother Renshu, if Brother Jie suddenly went missing without words, would you be able to sit down and just wait for him to return? Wouldn't you feel restless if you suddenly can't get in touch with him?"
"That's a different matter. Junjie and have been together since childhood, and he is my best friend. How about you and him, though? He even said he didn't know you that much when I asked him the other day."
Li Caiyi felt a sudden sting in her chest upon hearing that. "Zhiqiang said that? When?"
"I talked to him a bit on the day when Xiaohua got kidnapped, and I asked if something happened between the two of you for him to go so far. He said he didn't know you that much for him to care about you personally, but he owed you a big-time in the past."
Li Caiyi: "...."
Dai Zhiqiang didn't say anything wrong. She knew that.
The prominent reason he would care and treat her kindly was that she once saved his brother from danger. They only slowly became closer after that.
When Li Caiyi realized she was starting to look forward to meeting him every day in the library, it was already too late for her to deny her attraction towards him.
However, she was unsure whether she wanted to know how he felt about her or not. Her feelings toward Dai Zhiqiang were too complicated to explain.
"Are you disappointed?"
Meng Renshu's voice jolted her back to reality. She looked up to find Meng Renshu had stood only a step away in front of her.
"I have let my guard down, but it's okay. I'm very patient and confident I can make you look my way." He said in a tranquil and assured voice, showing his confidence without sounding arrogant. Li Caiyi was dumbstruck.
Because that line was almost like a love confession.
But how could that line possibly come from Meng Renshu to her? She must have been imagining things.
"Knowing you, you must already ask someone to investigate things about Zhiqiang, right? Please share that information with me, too." Li Caiyi switched the conversation back on track.
Meng Renshu smiled deviously. "And what can you give me in exchange? You can't possibly expect me to give the information to you for free, right?"
"What do you want from me? As long as it's not something overboard, perhaps I can think about it." Li Caiyi said, albeit feeling extremely unsure about this.
Meng Renshu pinched his chin as he hummed in a low voice. "Then how about freeing some time to spend with me every day?"
"Absolutely rejected," Li Caiyi replied immediately. She didn't even stop to think about it.
Meng Renshu laughed at that. "I'm only half-joking, but that instant rejection is hurtful."
"Stop playing around. We don't have much time here," Li Caiyi groaned impatiently.
"Then how about this? I will save this request for later, but you must promise me to fulfill anything I wished for. Don't worry, I won't ask for anything overboard as you said."
Li Caiyi squinted his eyes suspiciously. "What are you going to use it for? I can't trust you at all."
Meng Renshu shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "It's up to you to trust me or not, but do you think you have a say in this? You are the one asking me for help. Take it or leave, be my guest."
The way he said it was so irritating that she got the urge to smack his head. She felt like Meng Renshu had completely opened himself up to her and didn't bother to act polite anymore. Even in her previous life, he had never done this before, so Li Caiyi was bewildered and didn't know how to deal with him sometimes.
However, she was really worried about Dai Zhiqiang right now. She wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully until she could find out what had happened to him.
After forcefully ending her inner turmoil, she sighed deeply and relented. "Fine, but you'd better make my sacrifice worth it. Don't try to hide anything, or worse, lie to me!"
Meng Renshu smiled victoriously, seeing her concede to him. "You have my words. Then, shall we go now?"
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶