Was it something even she wasn't aware of? Meng Renshu lived longer than her, so what he remembered was probably something that happened after her death. If that was the case, then even if he told her about it, there was no guarantee he was telling the truth or not.
Forget about confirming; Li Caiyi didn't know where to begin now. She still wanted to keep her past life memory secret from anyone if she could help it, but Meng Renshu was the only exception.
"Anyway, that's that, guys. Let's hope your father does his worst so he can get kicked out of the laboratory immediately."
"No, we don't particularly care about him anymore. As long as he leaves our life for good, he can do anything as he pleases. Isn't that right, Xiaoyi?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah." Li Caiyi answered in a fluster.
"What are you zoning out for?"
"Haha, nothing." Li Caiyi laughed awkwardly. "Then, when will the divorce finally be settled?"
"Tomorrow, I guess?"
"I see. So starting from tomorrow, Father will really have no relation with us anymore."
"Yeah. Although the blood relationship can't be severed, he is just another adult in our life. You can write as much as you like now without being restrained."
Li Junjie's words brought a smile to Li Caiyi's lips. She knew it was his attempt to comfort her, and as awkward as it sounded, she was happy to hear it.
"I'm happy if that's the case."
Meng Renshu listened to the siblings' conversation and chuckled. "In a way, this disaster has brought the two of you closer. All's well that ends well, I guess?"
"If you don't speak, no one will think of you as a mute."
"There he is, denying it again. Just admit it already."
Li Caiyi agreed with Meng Renshu's opinion. The years of suffering under their father's tyranny couldn't be forgotten quickly. Still, in the end, they needed to put it in the past and move on.
Now that she had another chance to relive her life, she would live for herself. She would never repeat the same sad ending she had in her previous life.
***
It was a roller coaster ride of emotion and hard work, but the day finally came. Early in the morning, she received a message from Li Chunhua, informing her that Su Suyin had left for the Bureau of Civil Affairs to complete their divorce settlement.
Because both parties chose to divorce peacefully, the procedure was relatively fast and straightforward. By lunch break, Su Suyin sent the same message to all her children.
[I'm sorry, you guys have lost a father today].
For Li Caiyi, he had never experienced fatherly love from Li Jirong, so it wouldn't make any difference if she lost it or not, but she still replied with a few comforting lines to her mother. After all, Su Suyin was the only person with fond memories of Li Jirong.
[Mother, thank you for being strong for us. Everything will get better from now on.]
Her relationship with Su Suyin had yet to grow into a close mother-daughter relationship. Or perhaps their relationship would remain lukewarm forever. Li Caiyi couldn't hate her completely, nor could she like her as she used to in the past.
"This is for the best," Li Caiyi mumbled before returning her phone to her pocket.
Li Jirong finally left their life, and Li Caiyi most probably had already found Shen Qiang. She was pretty content with her current life, but the promise she said to Dai Zhiqiang yesterday held true.
She wanted to reach another level of herself she had yet to explore. Her book should be published around this week, and she would see how far ahead was that dream for her.
"Should I ask Shao Jingfei about it?"
Li Caiyi thought about it for a moment but later dissuaded herself from doing so. If there was any recent news about her book, Shao Jingfei would come running by himself.
The only thing she could do now was work hard on her study and writing. She desperately wanted to improve herself and not be called useless again.
"Let's come up with a new story!" Li Caiyi nodded enthusiastically before pulling out her notebook from her desk drawer and jotting down a few main ideas.
While writing, she opened the page where she used to write about information she knew about Shen Qiang. With a longing smile on her face, she added a new point below everything:
[Shen Qiang is probably Dai Zhiqiang. You love him so much, so never forget him].
"Oh!"
Li Caiyi exclaimed when a fresh new idea entered her head. Ignoring the teacher's explanation of the historical event, Li Caiyi wrote a prologue for her latest story. She might need to show Shao Jingfei this and ask for his opinion.
It just happened that she would have a meeting with him later, after all.
***
Dai Shenqiang looked at his surroundings and his phone screen alternately before finally stopping in front of a building that looked pretty old.
"Is it here?" He looked down at the map on his phone before concluding he was standing in front of the correct location.
"But why is this place so eerily quiet? There's no way Caiyi will give me the wrong address unless she made a mistake?"
He walked back and forth while trying to peek inside through the front glass. There was no one inside, so Dai Shenqiang felt even more skeptical about this place now.
"Well, at least it looks pretty tidy. It lacks human presence, though." He commented. "It looks like a cafe or something?"
Dai Shenqiang was about to call Li Caiyi's number when he felt something rubbing his legs. He yelped in surprise before looking down to see what touched his leg.
"What? It's just a cat?" Dai Shenqiang breathed a sigh of relief before picking up the gray tabby cat beside his leg with a big smile. "Where did you come from? Are you this place's cat? Or are you a wildcat?"
The cat meowed as a response, and Dai Shenqiang melted when it busily brushed its face. "Well, if you have nowhere to go, I don't mind adopting you."
Then a chuckle came from behind him. "Unfortunately, that one is already taken."
Dai Shenqiang jerked his body around, and his gaze fell on a guy around his age, who wore an old apron and holding a bucket in one hand. He had piercings in his ears, and his nails were painted black.
"Welcome to our cafe," Shao Jingfei smiled widely.
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