"Xiaoyi, I will wait outside if you need it, alright?"
"But why? Just stay here" Li Caiyi stared at her sister pleadingly.
Li Chunhua bit her lips hesitantly before shutting her eyes and looking away.
"No, I will let you two have some time to talk. Please don't get into a fight again and try to talk with him."
After saying that, she took the last worried glance at Meng Renshu and Li Caiyi before walking out of the tent.
Li Caiyi was speechless, while Meng Renshu stayed rooted in his place, without knowing what to say.
"Uhm, why don't you sit down first?"
In the end, Li Caiyi couldn't stand the suffocating silence and broke the ice first. Meng Renshu nodded and dragged a stool so he could sit a few steps away from Li Caiyi.
He really didn't have to go that far, but she guessed that was his way of showing consideration to her. The atmosphere became more awkward with stifling silence.
"How is your condition?"
"The paramedics have already taken a look at my injury, and they said I should be fine in a few weeks."
"I see. That's good." Meng Renshu looked genuinely relieved. "Someone will come here to deliver some warm food for you in a bit. Make sure you finish them all."
"Thank you."
"I also told the paramedics to look at Dai Zhiqiang's condition too. He is currently getting his treatment in the next tent."
Li Caiyi had nothing else to say. Meng Renshu had taken care of everything without needing her to mention it.
[Do you still think Brother Renshu has no feelings towards you at all?]
Li Chunhua's words from earlier rang inside her head, and the thought made her feel slightly bad about it. In retrospect, she did nothing but ignore him. Still, when he was being generous like this, that unspeakable guilt always came back to bite her.
"Brother Renshu, you should take a rest as well. I heard from Xiaohua that you haven't slept a wink since last night."
Meng Renshu noticed how Li Caiyi fiddled with her fingers and smiled faintly. "As long as you are fine, I'm also fine."
"You don't have to go so far for me like this." Li Caiyi found it difficult to articulate what she had in mind, so she stopped after saying that.
"How can I stand still when my childhood friend is missing? Forget about the problem between us; I'm sure you will also do the same for me."
"That's…"
Li Caiyi couldn't deny it immediately and only stared at the ground with a distant expression.
From how he spoke, it seemed he also had complicated feelings towards her, the same as she was towards him. Li Chunhua perceived his feeling as affection towards her, but Li Caiyi was sure it wasn't only that.
"Xiaoyi, now that I have regained some of my memories, I found you even more amazing than before."
"What do you mean?"
"I have reflected on myself since the last conversation we had. You used to be very obedient towards everyone. You don't want to hurt others, so you keep everything bottled up inside. But now, you worked hard to get everything you couldn't in your previous life. I thought you were amazing, enough that it made me feel ashamed."
Li Caiyi: "...."
"I was ashamed to think that you are still that girl who needs me for you to be happy; because you clearly don't. I have a hard time accepting this fact, so I become more and more stubborn, but I think my head cleared up when I saw Dai Zhiqiang come back with you today."
Li Caiyi raised her head, almost couldn't believe what she had just heard. Meng Renshu was smiling, but his demeanor exuded bitterness and loneliness.
"I have failed you in the past. That's why I wanted to make it up to you. If I try hard, this time I will be able to make you happy. But, I guess you don't need it anymore, huh?"
Li Caiyi clenched her hand, and it felt like there was a lump in her throat.
"That's right. I don't need anyone to make me happy now."
Meng Renshu smiled even wider. "I see. You just rejected me, but it felt refreshing somehow."
"Brother Renshu, do you like me? I mean, romantically."
"I do. I love you."
Bittersweet feelings grew inside her, looking at him smiling beautifully towards her under the bright morning light.
It reminded her of the first time they met, of how she had fallen in love at first sight when she saw his smile. He looked like an angel who had just descended to earth.
Ever since then, Meng Renshu has always become her beacon of light.
But she didn't need anyone's light anymore. Because she was happy with what she had now.
"I see. Thank you, Brother Renshu." Li Caiyi smiled back at him.
There was a ripple in Meng Renshu's chest. This was probably Li Caiyi's first time to smile genuinely at him after everything re-started again.
He thought he would do anything to make her smile at him again, just like she used to. The fact that she only smiled like that to him again after he started to let her go made this hard to bear.
'Is there really no way for us to return?'
He didn't want to give up, but he was beaten by that pretty smile.
"I hope you can be happy too. Let's not talk about our fallout in the past anymore and live in the present."
"Xiaoyi, I will try to do that. Unlike you, there are still many things I can't remember, but I'll try my best."
"En, that alone is more than enough for me."
Li Caiyi's body felt light. She didn't know what kind of lightning struck Meng Renshu's head, but he suddenly became an amiable person. She just hoped he wouldn't backtrack, and this good change would remain like that until the end.
"Don't get me wrong, though. Although my judgment had mellowed down, I still haven't trusted that guy yet."
The sudden change in his tone surprised her. The warm and friendly atmosphere was gone.
"Are you talking about Zhiqiang? Do you still think he is a bad person?"
"Yeah. He is too suspicious and has too many secrets. I had always kept a tab on him since we worked together to find him when he was missing. But strangely, I can't find out who he worked for. Something was hindering my path every time I tried to dig deeper."
"What do you mean? Did you do a background check on him?!"
"I have no choice. I need to make sure if he is dangerous or not and whether he is the same bastard who tempted you with sweet words in the past."
Li Caiyi frowned in displeasure. "That doesn't make this alright. Every time when I finally have a good opinion of you, why do you always have to destroy it with your hands?"
"This time, I didn't do it for myself, but for you. Among the fragments of memories I have, one of them contained the result of an investigation about him. Apparently, that guy had been stalking you for years."
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