Tick tock tick tock.
Aside from the sound from the antique clock on the wall, there was no other sound inside the room. The food in front of them had turned cold. The two people who sat silently had already lost their appetite.
"That's the gist of what happened…." Li Caiyi let out a deep sigh. Telling Meng Renshu what happened back then put a lot of strain on her. She felt complicated.
"That's impossible. I…did that…to you?"
Meng Renshu seemed shaken. Li Caiyi couldn't blame him, considering he only regained his memories partially.
"Everything I said was the truth I saw and heard. It's up to you to believe me or not."
"Ha." Meng Renshu put her hand on his forehead. His eyes shook wildly.
He only remembered a bit of what happened and never dreamed about the details of Li Chunhua's poisoning case. To think that he would treat Li Caiyi like that in the past, he absolutely couldn't understand himself.
"Is this why you can't accept me? No matter how much I try, you will never let yourself have the same feeling towards me anymore as back then."
Li Caiyi: "...."
She didn't know what to say because he looked extremely tormented. Meng Renshu had disappointed her to the point of no return, but it was undeniable that she wouldn't be able to reach this far without his help.
"Brother Renshu, I'm sure that's not the point of this conversation. We are here to discuss the case, not our past relationship."
"But still, how can I play ignorant when I know how much I have hurt you in the past?" Meng Renshu said bitterly, "I see. So that was the extent of the wound I inflicted on you. No wonder you avoided me like the plague whenever our eyes met."
What he said was right, but it made her feel uncomfortable. "As I said before, it was all in the past now. I won't ask you to take responsibility for what you have done back then because you are nothing more than a mere childhood friend for me now."
Meng Renshu didn't know whether to laugh or cry after hearing that. However, he had to admit that Li Caiyi must be a saint for putting up with him all this time, despite how deep her inner wound was.
And it was all thanks to the thief who stole her from him, that villainous Dai Zhiqiang.
Meng Renshu would prefer her to scold or hate him instead of letting her go into that guy's arms.
"Are we going to talk about your father or not?" Li Caiyi asked impatiently. "I don't have all day, you know?"
"Yes. You are right," Meng Renshu gathered himself together before saying, "I understand why you don't feel like saying anything about this matter. You thought I wouldn't believe you if you told me it was my father who pulled the string behind the scene, right?"
Li Caiyi nodded. "I'm glad you are quick to understand. Your father was wary of my family for some reason. His worry should be gone now that my father is not here to pressure your family anymore, but even now, I still didn't know why he was so hung up on ruining our family."
"Hmm, my father is a calculative man. He wouldn't make a move unless he was certain it would produce some profit. I'm afraid there is a deeper reason than just a mere 'old ties' between two families." Meng Renshu tapped on the table with his finger.
"I think so too. He deliberately set me up from the beginning for that purpose."
Meng Renshu pondered deeply for a moment. "Xiaoyi, I have a proposition. Would you like to hear it?"
"What is it?"
"No matter how much we try to force our brain to think, nothing will come up. We are severely lacking in information. You passed away early, and I only remembered a few pieces of my past life. But there is one thing we can do to fill in the void in information."
At first, Li Caiyi didn't understand where he was trying to go with this, but she got his point a moment later. She frowned in disapproval as she responded, "If you are trying to suggest that we sleep together to help you jog your memories, then forget it."
"Xiaoyi, but this is important. The detective clarified that he couldn't trust my father, and I thought his doubt was reasonable. Your story further convinced me that my father probably had something to do with this. Why do you think we were given a second chance to re-do our life? Wasn't it to prevent a past tragedy from happening again?"
"The past has changed a lot, and my father is no longer there to pursue a relationship with your family. What can possibly go wrong?"
"Think about this. My father agreed to our marriage because of a certain reason. He could have refused if he wanted to sever our ties, but he didn't. This means the Li family held a certain value for him. We must find out what it is, or there's no guarantee that no harm will come to your family after this."
Li Caiyi bit her lips. She couldn't deny that his argument held some weight in it. After discovering Meng Yaoshu's sinister side, she knew he would do anything to achieve his goal, even if he had to sacrifice someone innocent.
But this and that were two different things altogether.
"I refuse," Li Caiyi replied firmly. "I don't want to do something that can hurt my boyfriend's feelings. There must be another way to find his motive without having to do this."
Meng Renshu's brows twitched a bit. "Why do you care so much about him when he doesn't even have time for you?"
"That's none of your business. We can take care of the problem by ourselves."
"It's not like we will do anything indecent. We just need to sleep side by side. Why are you making such a big deal out of it? You will throw away such an efficient plan just for that guy. Should I praise you for your loyalty?"
"Save me your sarcasm. I don't care what's your opinion about this. My answer remains the same, and nothing you say will change my mind."
They stared stubbornly at each other for a few moments, each refusing to back down. In the end, Meng Renshu averted his eyes first.
"You don't have to glare at me like that. I will not force you if you truly don't want to."
Li Caiyi didn't expect him to give up so quickly. She was relieved.
Her reaction didn't escape his eyes, and it annoyed him. Dai Zhiqiang was so lucky to have her heart, something he yearned for, but the said person treated it carelessly.
But even so, Li Caiyi still chose him and decided to love him. It pained him when he thought how she used to look at him the same way, but he missed such a beautiful jewel under his nose to some other guy.
Meng Renshu had to win her back at all costs. He would show her that he was the only one who could make her happy in the end.
"Then, I will try asking my father and people close to him about it. If we couldn't use our past life memories as a source of information, then we had to find it manually."
"Oh." Li Caiyi didn't think of that as she was too focused on Dai Zhiqiang. This method would take time, but it was better than sleeping with Meng Renshu.
"Right. I will also try asking my mother and brother about the 'old promise'. There's probably something deeper about that."
"I will contact you once I find out something. Please do the same if you find something from your end."
"Of course, you can count on me." Li Caiyi smiled reassuringly. She also felt secretly elated that their conversation ended on a good note. He believed in her, and that made everything so much easier.
Perhaps she should thank him for that. "Uhm, thank you for believing in my story."
"If you really are grateful, please don't try to hide anything from me starting now. We need complete trust in each other if we want to continue this. It won't help if you keep avoiding me whenever I try to talk to you."
"Yes. I'll do that."
Meng Renshu smiled in satisfaction. For now, he would be content with more chances to spend some time with her in the future. He could plan how to win her heart while he was at it.
"Good. Then, I'm looking forward to our alliance."
His eyes locked on her like a predator marking his prey.
'I absolutely won't let you go this time.'
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