Li Caiyi hummed in a good mood while carrying a plastic bag with three batches of ice creams inside.
Chen Ruolan and Feng Nian had not made up yet, but their relationship was not as prickly as before anymore. As expected, good food always puts you in a good mood. When your mood was good, even your enemy looked more pleasant in your eyes. She thought she did a great job choosing an ice cream parlor as their hang-out place today.
She even brought extra for Li Chunhua, Li Junjie, and Su Suyin. Nothing for Li Jirong, though.
Because he would not be able to stomach it after hearing today's news, anyway.
Li Caiyi won the bet fair and square, which was only the beginning.
When she arrived at her house, a familiar car was parked outside. Li Caiyi groaned in exasperation, knowing well who was the owner of that car.
She suddenly did not want to enter.
'No, stay strong. He is nothing to you now. What he did and said no longer had control over you, so keep your chin up and stand proudly, Li Caiyi!' she encouraged herself inwardly, and then, with a deep breath, she entered her house.
It felt like a déjà vu of the other day when her parents were waiting for her. However, this time, the whole family was sitting in the living room, with the addition of Meng Renshu. Even the ever so indifferent Li Junjie was also there.
"Xiaoyi, you are finally home!" Li Chunhua was the first one to greet her, as always. She ran over with her bright face and held Li Caiyi tightly in hers. "I have heard about the announcement. Congratulations, Li Caiyi! I'm so proud of you!"
The news must have traveled to her family, too. It was laughable how they suddenly became interested in her after finally making something out of herself. Li Chunhua was a bit of a special case, though.
"Xiaoyi, come sit down with us. There is something we need to talk about to you," Su Suyin called out to her gently. Li Caiyi gave the ice cream to Li Chunhua, then sat on the couch. Across from her, Meng Renshu was looking at her gently while Li Junjie was scrutinizing her closely. Li Jirong's expression was grim, and Su Suyin looked worried.
What was with this situation?
"What do you want to talk to me about?" Li Caiyi asked without beating around the bush.
Nobody took the initiative to speak, so Su Suyin had no choice but to be the one who brought out the news. "We have heard the news about you winning the competition. Congratulations, Xiaoyi."
"That's right, congratulations," Meng Renshu said.
"Congratulations," Li Junjie curtly added.
"Thank you, everyone. I thought something serious had happened when I saw all of you gathered around."
Li Jirong, who remained silent all this time, cleared his throat and said, "Of course, we are not only gathering here for you. You think we are that idle?"
Yikes. He must have been terribly upset with her for winning their bet. Li Jirong usually tried to put on a good father mask in front of Meng Renshu, but it did not seem like he could afford to do that today.
Li Jirong also realized he was being too harsh after that line left his mouth, then he coughed again awkwardly to redeem himself. "I mean, how can you hide such great news from us? If not for Young Master Meng, who came and informed us about it, we probably would have become the last people on earth to know that."
He really knew how to choose his words. What a pretentious man.
"Uncle, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Renshu comfortably? Our families have always been close, so if you call me that, I'll be sad."
Li Jirong laughed heartily, looking like he was in a good mood. "Hahaha, is that so? Then, Uncle will try hard to do so."
"Brother Renshu is just too dazzling to be called casually like that," Li Chunhua had returned from the kitchen and sat beside Li Caiyi now.
Meng Renshu was flattered. "That again? I'm just an ordinary human like you. Don't single me out like that."
Then, they started talking about something else. Su Suyin and Li Junjie would occasionally speak, while the conversation was dominated mainly by Li Jirong, Meng Renshu, and Li Chunhua. Only Li Caiyi sat there in silence. They seemed to completely forget about her, the main character of today's news.
Li Caiyi laughed mockingly inside. She was not even surprised that they would treat her achievement like a speck of dust not worth talking about. She even doubted if their congratulations earlier were genuine; it was probably because Meng Renshu was there, and they had to maintain their face.
After she experienced a warm and pleasant afternoon with her friends, returning to a cold and indifferent family felt like she was pushed off from heaven to hell. On regular days, this kind of indifference would be nothing new to her, but now that she had tasted what it felt to be acknowledged, receiving this kind of treatment suddenly felt too much to bear.
Looking at them, it was like a picture of a happy family, and she was the only outsider.
Well, Li Caiyi had achieved her goal of earning money and won the bet against her father. She had no expectations of her family, and this uncomfortable feeling inside her would subside after some time.
Wasting her time here would only make her feel bad, so she stood up. "If that's all you need from me, I'll be returning to my room."
Li Jirong frowned in displeasure. "What kind of manners is this? Your mother and I had not got up from our seats yet, and you are already so impatient to leave?"
Li Caiyi could feel the atmosphere become tense. Li Jirong probably thought he could force her to sit again, but little did he know that the current Li Caiyi standing in front of him was not the same Li Caiyi who would always act cautiously in consideration of others. She would usually endure the uncomfortable feeling of being ignored silently because she did not want to ruin the mood for her family. But today, she couldn't care less about it because they were the ones who destroyed her mood first.
Today was supposed to be a happy day for her. She would not sit and endure it foolishly again.
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on fre ew𝒆bnovel.com