Once again, Li Caiyi was rendered speechless. She thought she had misheard him.
"Did you just say, transfer school? But why?!"
"No reason. I just found a better school, that's all."
"Lies." Li Caiyi frowned deeply. "Be honest with me. Are you doing all this because of Huang Zhen? Because you don't want to put me in danger, you distanced yourself from me?"
Dai Zhiqiang chuckled. "Perhaps. But everything I said before is not a lie either. You should know better that I'm not the type to lie to someone."
His words stung her heart, but she quickly suppressed them so he wouldn't notice. "You treated me like some kind of plague or something. Do you have to go as far as transferring schools?"
"Stop making this all about you. I never said such a thing. Anyway, now that I have told you everything, I will take my leave first." Dai Zhiqiang paused briefly before continuing. "Goodbye, Li Caiyi. Take care of yourself."
Li Caiyi couldn't answer because her tongue got stiffened. She stayed rooted in her place even when Dai Zhiqiang left the rooftop.
'Is he really leaving for good? Not only did he want to break up, but he also wanted to disappear from her life?'
No, she extremely hated that.
When she finally regained her senses, she quickly ran inside, but Dai Zhiqiang was already nowhere to be seen.
The panicked Li Caiyi searched every floor, but he was already gone. After searching the whole school ground in vain, she returned to Dai Zhiqiang's classroom, which was empty, as expected.
Dai Zhiqiang was completely serious about this. He didn't hesitate even for a second.
Her strong facade immediately crumbled as tears slowly cascaded through her cheeks again.
Li Caiyi didn't know how to control herself and broke down in tears right there and then.
***
The ceremony went boringly, as expected. Meng Renshu held back the urge to yawn several times throughout everything and could finally sigh in relief when it was finally done.
However, his relief was short-lived, as he was immediately 'attacked' by dozens of girls wanting to say congratulatory words to him. Meng Renshu could only smile awkwardly while dealing with them one by one.
Besides him, Li Junjie didn't fare much better. He was surrounded by people too.
While talking with those girls, he couldn't help but notice that he hadn't seen Li Caiyi since he came to school. She was probably still angry at him, but he thought she would come to see Li Junjie at least once.
Meng Renshu and Li Junjie quickly bade goodbye once they noticed the number of girls had increased over time. They retreated to their class, where everyone was too busy to bug them.
"This is why I don't want to come," Li Junjie grumbled as he loosened his necktie. His frown deepened when he checked on his desk drawer to see a bunch of gifts stuffed there.
Meng Renshu chuckled. "But you are the representative of our batch. This is the last day, so hold on a bit longer. More importantly, I haven't seen Xiaoyi since earlier. Did she come to school today?"
"She was leaving the house wearing the school uniform for sure. But I don't know if she used this chance to sneak off somewhere again." Li Junjie shrugged before casting him a side glance. "Thanks to someone who encouraged her."
"Come on. You can't blame me for everything. Who told you to have a scary face? She got scared and wanted to run away because you did unusual things."
"But what else can I do? I can't be with her every time, so I should at least watch over her while I can."
"According to the bodyguard I sent to watch over her, it's been very calm lately, so I don't think you need to worry that much. Besides, I got information from a reliable source that the man from back then won't come back to disturb. At least for a few years."
"How can you be so sure?" Li Junjie looked at him skeptically. "I compromise because I trust you, but I can't trust this so-called 'reliable source'. Why don't you just tell me the truth?"
"Nope. That's classified information." Meng Renshu grinned. "Xiaoyi is an important person to me. You can rest assured that I won't risk her safety."
Li Junjie stared at him with an inexplicable expression before withdrawing his gaze. "If you are curious about her, why don't you just look for her instead of asking me daily?"
"It's not that simple...." Meng Renshu replied in a defeated tone.
After their last argument, Meng Renshu and Li Caiyi never talked to each other again. Not even for their current investigation. He had a feeling that she was probably completely fed up with him, and it made him regret his action.
However, he suddenly lost the intention of apologizing when he thought of how she perceived him. He couldn't bring himself to give in first because it would feel like he was admitting that she was right.
Meng Renshu had done so much for her, but why did she keep thinking negatively about him? He was very disappointed because Li Caiyi couldn't see his sincerity and still perceived him as the bad guy even now.
Moreover, looking at the current Li Caiyi was honestly very painful for him. She was so scared of being abandoned that she didn't mind risking herself for Dai Zhiqiang.
It drove him crazy whenever she defended that guy in front of him!
He involuntarily blurted out some harsh words due to anger, and now they were at this stalemate.
Li Junjie could see the conflicting emotion in Meng Renshu's eyes and sigh, "Why don't you just go and find her? I feel tired just looking at you guys. She is probably still on the school grounds."
"....Yeah, you are right. Sorry, can you look after my things?"
Meng Renshu didn't wait for him to respond as he ran out of the classroom.
The first place he visited was, of course, her classroom. Several people were surprised to find him there, but he had no time to pay attention to them.
Meng Renshu saw Li Caiyi's friends and walked over to them. "Hello, have you seen Xiaoyi anywhere?"
Zhou Ya was startled because he suddenly talked to her but immediately composed herself.
"Actually, that's what we are wondering too. Caiyi didn't attend the ceremony and wasn't in the classroom when we returned. But her bag is still here, so she must be in school somewhere. We thought she went to Senior Li's classroom."
Meng Renshu frowned inwardly, but on the outside, he smiled and bade them goodbye. Where could she run off to?
He was walking down the hallway when an idea hit him. He made a U-turn before hastening his steps toward the library.
If she wasn't in the classroom, then she was probably in the library, considering how much time she spent there.
Meng Renshu arrived at the library in no time and slowly pushed open the door. It was unlocked, but there was no one inside.
He was a little disappointed and was about to leave the room when he glimpsed a shadow from the corner of her eyes. If he listened closely, he could also faintly hear the sound of crying.
Meng Renshu's heart tightened as his feet brought him closer to the voice. It came from the archive room in the back.
The closer he was to the door, the more he was convinced that the one inside was Li Caiyi.
"Xiaoyi?" he called out softly, and the cry immediately paused.
He opened the door, and his gaze was immediately met with her reddened and tear-stricken eyes.
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