"Be that as it may, we haven't seen Senior Meng around our class lately. He usually appears around lunch break or when the school ends to find Caiyi." Feng Nian said.
"You're right. I wonder if he finally gives up?"
"Lan Lan, you might be into something there," Zhou Ya commented while looking deep in thought. "Caiyi, have you talked about this properly with him?"
"Yeah. I told him I have someone I like, so I can't answer his feelings."
"Oh? Is that so?" Zhou Ya said, with a trace of disappointment in her voice.
"Ya Ya, you just want to watch a good drama. Love triangles rarely exist in reality, you know?" Chen Ruolan teased.
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Zhou Ya harrumphed.
The conversation made her think about how they parted ways yesterday. Meng Renshu said he went off to take care of some things, but in the end, he didn't come back even until Li Caiyi was about to go home. As Feng Nian said, Meng Renshu had also rarely come to bother her recently.
She doubted he would give up so easily, though, considering his personality. It bothered her when she couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"...."
Li Caiyi felt conflicted about this because the more she didn't want to think about him, the more she thought about him. It was like a curse that couldn't be exorcised.
Li Caiyi was curious whether or not her suspicion was correct. After checking on her notebook, she noticed she had lost another memory of Shen Qiang. In her notebook, she wrote they went to an amusement park, but she couldn't recall that at all.
Strangely, the memories that would be erased is the one that revolved around Shen Qiang only. She always thought that this rebirth phenomenon happened because of her wish, but what if that wasn't the case?
"Caiyi!"
Li Caiyi's line of thought was interrupted when she heard someone calling her name. The four of them turned their head simultaneously to the voice source, only to find Shao Jingfei running towards them while waving his hand.
"Jingfei? What happened?" Li Caiyi asked in wonder once he had stopped in front of her.
"I want to talk about your book. Are you busy right now?"
"No, not really," she answered while glancing at her three other friends. They nodded their heads and went ahead after telling her to come back to the class soon.
"Okay, you can tell me what happened now."
"Phew, I have to say, you are really in luck right now." Shao Jingfei wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead.
"Why?"
"When we publish recent works, we usually have this period of a promotion, where your book can get featured on our main website if we deem it good enough to attract attention. Doing this would give a book more exposure, thus generating more profit." Shao Jingfei began explaining, "Normally, an author who has received no recognition yet won't be able to hope to get this feature, but guess what? According to my source, they chose your book for that."
Li Caiyi gasped in surprise. "What? But how can that be? Did you do something again, Jingfei?"
Shao Jingfei shook his head. "Even if I'm amazing, I have no authority to decide or even recommend a book to get a beneficial feature like that. Your book has to be approved by the board of chief editors, and it's safe to say that they must like your story very much."
He grinned widely before giving her a thumb up with a grin. "As expected of the talent I found! You just never cease to surprise me."
Li Caiyi still couldn't believe the news she had just heard. It felt like a miracle. She didn't think of sending her work to a publisher in her previous life because she never thought of it as something worthy enough to be read by other people. Only her online friend who knew about her hobby encouraged her.
"Are you so happy you can't say anything? Well, I can understand. Getting a feature is an enormous privilege because you can get a head start from any other book. It's very rare for a newbie author to get this privilege, so you are fortunate."
"Jingfei, that's really wonderful news! Thank you so much!"
"Wait until your book is officially published. It will take off with a bang!"
"I hope so!"
Li Caiyi was very excited because all her future plans would rely heavily on her soon-to-be-published book. Everything finally started to become better, and she was very hopeful about what was to come.
"Oh yeah, and the publication date has been finalized. Your book will launch next week, so keep your eyes open all the time." Shao Jingfei said with a wink.
"Thank you, Jingfei, as always. I feel like you are always supporting me. I'm glad you are my editor and my friend." Li Caiyi said sincerely.
"What's with that sudden compliment?" He chuckled. "It's my passion to help a hidden gem reach its true potential. Helping you like this brings me great joy, too, so no need to thank me for everything."
Li Caiyi shook her head. "No, you don't know how much you have helped me. Not only with my book, but with Xiaohua's matters, too."
Shao Jingfei's smile dimmed when he heard Li Chunhua's name. After the call she made that night, they hadn't talked to each other yet. He could sense that something must have happened, yet he couldn't meet Li Chunhua yesterday.
"Say, Caiyi. Did something happen with Chunhua these days?"
Li Caiyi sighed. "Well, something happened in our house right now. It's been a hard time for Xiaohua too. If she ever contacted you to vent, please hear her out. I think she genuinely considers you her friend and unconsciously relies on you a lot."
Shao Jingfei didn't know if he should tell Li Caiyi about how Li Chunhua called him and cried her problem out until she fell asleep. He had a feeling that what she had told him had a connection to Li Caiyi, so he wasn't sure how to bring it up.
"Anyway, this is good timing. I also want to ask you something, Jingfei."
"What is it?"
"Those fake nails you wear. Didn't you mention the last time you wore it for therapy or something like that?" Li Caiyi said in wonder while staring at Shao Jingfei's black nails.
"Ah, you mean these?" Shao Jingfei raised his hand. "Yes. I used to have a habit of biting my nails, so wearing these help to deter that impulse to bite."
"I see. Does this method usually work with everyone?"
"Hmm, I don't think so? It works for me, but I can't say it will work for other people. Why do you ask?"
"I noticed Xiaohua seems to bite her nails a lot these days. I don't know when she developed such a habit, but I guess she feels restless because of the recent happenings in our house. Thanks to that, her nails became chapped, and her fingers even bled." Li Caiyi explained with a sigh of exasperation.
"Wow, that's exactly the same as me years ago." Shao Jingfei hummed in acknowledgment. "I have a lot of spare fake nails in my place. Should I give some to her?"
"You mean…black nails?" Li Caiyi asked hesitantly.
"Well, I like black color, so it's mostly black. But I remember I have some with brighter colors if I remember correctly. I'll check on them when we return later."
Hearing Shao Jingfei's mentioned 'return' reminded Li Caiyi of the topic of living independently.
If there was someone to ask about that, then Shao Jingfei was probably the best person out of all the people she knew.
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